A deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party on Monday submitted a bill to the State Duma that would introduce fines for people who fail to inform the Russian authorities that they have citizenship in another country.
The legislation, drawn up by Deputy Sergei Ivanov, proposes levying fines from 1,500 rubles to 2,500 rubles ($42 to $72), Interfax reported.
While the offensive is an administrative one, criminal cases would be opened against people found guilty of "hiding" a second nationality while putting forward their candidacy for elections, applying for a public position that is open only to Russian citizens, and obtaining state secrets.
If the bill is approved, those found guilty could be fined up to 300,000 rubles, sentenced to 480 hours of community service or sent to jail for a maximum of three years.
Under current legislation, Russians have the right to obtain citizenship of other countries without having to give up their Russian citizenship.
However, at present not one state organ that deals with citizenship issues is capable of providing information about the number of Russians with dual citizenship, Ivanov said, Itar-Tass reported.
President Vladimir Putin recently proposed tackling the information problem, telling a meeting of Federation Council senators, "We have every right to know who is living in Russia and what they are doing."
In August, a court in Yaroslavl barred a member of the opposition RPR-Parnas party, Vladimir Kara-Murza, from running in September's regional assembly election because he had both a British and Russian passport.