The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has prepared a bill that may grant the traffic police the right to register cars of Russian citizens that are internationally wanted at the initiative of unfriendly countries.
If information is received regarding cars imported by Russians being wanted, there is a direct ban on the registration of such vehicles. At the same time, the countries initiating the search often do not provide answers to notifications about wanted cars, which makes it impossible to make objective decisions.
The explanatory note states that, for example, data has not been received from Germany on 123 cars declared wanted and discovered in Russia as of January 19, 2026. A similar situation is observed with regard to cars unreasonably placed on the international wanted list by Ukraine. The lack of information about the reasons and circumstances for declaring vehicles wanted deprives the Russian authorities of the opportunity to make legitimate procedural decisions.
The bill assumes that the registering authority will be able to determine the specifics of performing registration actions in relation to such vehicles, which will allow bona fide owners to use cars without the need for litigation.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that at the moment there is no regulatory framework to protect the legitimate interests of Russians who own cars declared internationally wanted at the initiative of unfriendly countries.
Read more materials on the topic:
- EU court allows confiscation of Russians' personal cars for "violation of sanctions"
- What cars were imported into Russia via parallel imports in 2025
- Car imports from Asian countries increased in the Far East
