Lawyer Matyushenkov explained what the consequences are now for forging medical certificates.

      On June 23, 2026, at 11:25 AM, Society President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed a law that toughens penalties for forging medical certificates; the document has already come into force. Changes have been made to the Criminal Code, where Article 235.2 has been introduced.

      Now, for the manufacture, sale, or use of forged certificates of absence of dangerous diseases, the following penalties are provided:

      — imprisonment for up to 4 years;

      — a fine ranging from 500,000 to 1 million rubles or an amount equal to income for a period of 1 to 2 years;

      — compulsory labor for up to 4 years.

      For forging a certificate of absence of an infectious disease that poses a danger to others, the punishment will be stricter:

      — imprisonment for a term of 2 to 5 years;

      — a fine ranging from 800,000 to 1.5 million rubles.

      Before the amendments to the legislation, law enforcement practice regarding cases of forged medical certificates was based on Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provided for liability for document forgery. This was reported by Dmitry Matyushenkov, Deputy Director of the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization "Center for Legislative Development," lawyer, and candidate of legal sciences, in an interview for 360.ru.

      However, with the introduction of Article 235.2 into the Criminal Code, the approach to liability for forgery of medical documents has radically changed. Now this article criminalizes not only the manufacture but also the acquisition, storage, transportation, and use of forged documents confirming the absence of diseases that pose a danger to others.

      In the presence of aggravating circumstances, such as the use of the internet, abuse of official position, or commission of a crime by a group of individuals by prior agreement, the punishment may be increased to imprisonment for a term of 3 to 6 years with a fine of up to 2 million rubles. If the act is committed by an organized group and leads to mass infection of people or other serious consequences, the maximum penalty may be up to 8 years of imprisonment with a fine of up to 3 million rubles and deprivation of the right to hold certain positions.

      It is important to note that the provisions of the new law do not have retroactive effect and do not apply to cases where the certificate was issued or used before the amendments came into force.

      According to the expert, the tightening of sanctions and the threat of long prison terms may serve as a deterrent for potential violators. However, as Matyushenkov noted, the high demand from migrants and service sector workers will inevitably lead to a transformation of the shadow market for forged certificates. This may manifest in an increase in the cost of such documents, a shift of the market into deep underground with the use of encrypted communication channels and cryptocurrencies.

      Dmitry Matyushenkov emphasized that criminal liability measures alone are not a definitive solution to the problem. A key step should be the widespread digitalization of medical document circulation. This implies the integration of all issued certificates into a single state information system with the assignment of unique machine-readable codes. Such a system would allow for instant verification of the authenticity of certificates in the registry, making physical forgery of forms meaningless.

      The list of diseases that pose a threat to others includes a wide range of diagnoses. Among them:

      — HIV infection

      — Viral fevers transmitted by arthropods

      — Viral hemorrhagic fevers

      — Helminthiasis

      — Hepatitis B

      — Diphtheria

      — Infections predominantly transmitted sexually

      — Leprosy

      — Plague

      — Cholera

      — Tuberculosis

      — Coronavirus

      — Anthrax

      — Malaria

      — Pediculosis

      — Acariasis and other infestations

      — Sap infections and melioidosis

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