My family is being pressured while I'm abroad

• What you can do. Don't come back because of promises to 'just talk': they have no legal force, and in Belarus even people on short visits were detained. Don't tell relatives about your plans or address by phone or in chats. Agree a code word in case they are made to call you. Note dates, names and agencies for your lawyer and an asylum claim.
• Relatives' rights. By law no one has to testify against themselves, their spouse or close relatives: art. 51 of the Constitution and art. 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in Russia, art. 27 of the Constitution in Belarus. Close relatives under Russian law: spouse, parents, children, full brothers and sisters, grandparents, grandchildren. A 'chat' has no basis in law and can be declined, but what is said may be recorded. Questioning requires a summons, and a lawyer can come along. In practice refusing to talk sometimes angers officers, so decide with a lawyer in advance how to refuse.
• Searches and papers. A search in a case against someone who left most often takes place at their registered address: if you are registered at your parents' flat, officers will go there. Don't keep your documents or devices at your relatives' homes. Relatives are better off signing nothing they haven't read in full and writing any disagreement straight into the record. By law devices are seized with a written record; ask for a copy.
• Property. Since 1 September 2026 (Law 168-FZ) a court can freeze the property of someone abroad under certain 'political' administrative articles. By law property that is legally your relatives' is not covered, but First Department lawyers see a risk for property bought during a marriage and gifts to relatives made after a case began. Details: 'My flat or accounts were arrested'.
• What happens. According to the UN special rapporteur on Russia (September 2026), pressure on relatives has become a common way to make people who left fall silent or come back. Parents are visited by the police, the FSB or Centre E, and in Belarus by the KGB and GUBOPiK (the organised crime and corruption directorate). There are 'talks', witness summonses, searches, seizure of devices and threats of a case against the relatives themselves. According to OVD-Info, since 2022 relatives have been made to call those who left and ask them to return, or to record apology videos.
• The Caucasus and Central Asia. In Chechnya, critics' relatives have been abducted and held for weeks and forced to disown them publicly; in 2025 families were expelled from the republic (see 'Fleeing the North Caucasus'). If you are from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan or Turkmenistan, see the situation on pressure on relatives in Central Asia.
• Where to turn: First Department (foreign agent), Network Freedoms, and First Line psychologists for relatives. For Belarusians: Viasna ('extremist' in Belarus; writing to it from Belarus is dangerous). OVD-Info is designated 'extremist' in Russia: relatives in Russia should not write to it or donate. If advice is needed, you write from abroad.
• Remarks on the record. OVD-Info advises writing remarks on separate sheets, as many as needed, and noting in the record how many sheets there are and the first and last words. Cross out blank spaces. Don't sign a clause agreeing to be notified by text message. A relative who agrees to talk should know their testimony remains evidence even if they later retract it (art. 56 CCP).
• Summonses. A summons to questioning for someone abroad can be handed to an adult family member, who is legally obliged to pass it on (art. 188 CCP; Belarus art. 216). Relatives cannot accept a military summons for the person; it counts as served 7 days after it appears in the summons register (art. 31, Law on Military Duty).
• Non-disclosure undertaking. After signing it, relatives must not pass on case details, including to you (art. 310 Criminal Code; Belarus art. 407). In Russia, reporting violations by officials and writing complaints is allowed (art. 161 CCP). Ask the investigator to write down exactly what may not be disclosed.

Designations of organisations in this guide: OVD-Info (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Viasna Human Rights Centre (extremist in Belarus). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.

current as of 26 September 2026. More: UN Special Rapporteur on Russia: 'Nowhere is safe', report on transnational repression (A/HRC/63/60, 8 Sep 2026); OVD-Info: pressure on the families of persecuted people (2024 study, in Russian) (extremist); First Department: guide for activists' relatives (in Russian) (foreign agent); Russian Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 56: witness rights (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); Constitution of Belarus, art. 27 (pravo.by, in Russian); First Department: the law on freezing emigrants' property and risks for relatives (in Russian) (foreign agent); Federal Law 168-FZ of 10 June 2026 (official publication, in Russian); OVD-Info: the law on the register of emigrants (284-FZ), powers of attorney and the allowance for relatives (in Russian) (extremist); HRW: World Report 2026, Russia (Chechnya: families of opponents expelled) (undesirable); Nasha Niva citing Viasna: KGB searches at the homes of exiles' relatives (22 May 2026, in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Nasha Niva citing Viasna: the EHU case, parents forced to bring their children back (4 June 2026, in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Reform.news citing Viasna: even a short trip to Belarus can end in detention (9 Sep 2026, in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); OVD-Info: questioning, interviews and 'chats' (remarks on the record, summons via family; in Russian) (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); OVD-Info: summoned after a protest (clause consenting to text-message notification; in Russian) (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Russian CCP, art. 188: summons handed to an adult family member (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); Law on Military Duty, art. 31: how military summonses are served, the register (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); Novaya Gazeta Europe: relatives cannot sign for a military summons (26 Sep 2024, in Russian) (undesirable); Russian CCP, art. 161: non-disclosure of investigation data and exceptions (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); Russian Criminal Code, art. 310: disclosure of investigation data (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); First Department: how to behave at questioning (non-disclosure, recording, photographing the record; in Russian) (foreign agent)