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Russia’s lower-house State Duma voted Thursday to strip lawmaker Yury Napso of his seat after he failed to attend parliamentary sessions for two years while still collecting his official salary.
Napso, a member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and a State Duma deputy since 2007, has been on sick leave since April 2023, according to lawmakers.
“It’s known that Yury Napso has been living outside Russia in the United Arab Emirates for about two years,” the parliament said in a statement. “Overall, he has not been inside the State Duma walls for around two years, more than 200 days of which were without a valid reason.”
Napso, 51, said in February that he was under strict orders from doctors to remain in the United Arab Emirates in preparation for surgery. He did not disclose what illness or condition he was suffering from.
“I’m instructed to wash my wound with medical solutions several times a day, change bandages, observe impeccable hygiene and not be in a sitting position — all of which is impossible within the walls of the State Duma,” he wrote on Telegram.
The State Duma’s vote revoked Napso’s mandate ahead of its scheduled expiration in September 2026, when legislative elections are set to be held next.
Vasily Piskaryov, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma's ethics committee, told the RBC news website that deputies are obliged by law to participate in Duma sessions and committee work as well as help their constituents.
“How can he, being abroad, fulfill even one of the things I said?” Piskaryov said.
Napso told RBC that he would file an appeal against the decision with the Supreme Court.
In October, a court in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region ordered the seizure of assets linked to Napso after prosecutors accused him of continuing to run his businesses through a third party.
Napso is a major donor of LDPR, meaning that his departure from the State Duma may have significant consequences for the party’s finances.
The exiled news outlet Mozhem Obyasnit reported that party donations fell from 24.6 million rubles ($291,000) last spring and summer to 1 million rubles ($11,800) between October and December 2024.
LDPR, which holds 23 of the Duma’s 450 seats, is reportedly seeking Napso’s replacement from among its senior members.
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