Espionage Light. Russia makes first arrest under law punishing “aiding the enemy”

On July 16, investigators submitted a request to detain a person identified as A.Yu. Demidenko. The next day, Judge Anna Antipova of the Lefortovo district court approved the motion. Antipova had already authorised a search of Demidenko’s residence on July 15 under the same article of the Russian criminal code.

Due to the commonality of the last name, Mediazona has not yet been able to confirm Demidenko’s full identity or background. Prior to their arrest, there had been no “carousel arrests”, a tactic frequently used by Russian law enforcement to cycle individuals through short-term administrative detentions as a precursor to more serious charges.

This is the first known application of Article 276.1 of the criminal code, which was signed into law by Vladimir Putin in December 2024.

It criminalises providing “financial, material-technical, advisory or other forms of assistance to an enemy engaged in activities knowingly directed against the security of the Russian Federation”, provided the person is in Russia and the act does not constitute espionage. The offence, which applies only to non-Russian citizens, carries a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years.

Just today, lawmakers in the State Duma also granted authorities the power to revoke citizenship for a broad set of other offences if committed under aggravating circumstances, for example, those deemed motivated by hatred or linked to sabotage or support for terrorism.

It follows Kremlin’s 2023 expansion of denaturalisation powers, when it became possible to strip individuals of their citizenship for a wide range of so-called “extremist” activities, a broad term that can be applied to any political activity. In one such case, authorities revoked the passport of Dmitry Kisiev, a Crimean political organiser involved to Boris Nadezhdin’s 2024 presidential campaign, after the FSB accused him of actions “negatively affecting political and social stability.”