In a separate announcement on Friday, the Prosecutor General’s Office said it had opened proceedings to classify the feminist punk collective Pussy Riot as an extremist group, a step that could ban the band’s performances, freeze assets and impose criminal liability on supporters. The move follows a pattern of targeting cultural figures who oppose government policies.
The crackdown broadened further on Thursday when the Supreme Court labeled the U.S.-registered entity of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) a terrorist organization. The late opposition politician Alexei Navalny founded the ACF to investigate high-level corruption; its original Russian structure was declared “undesirable” in 2021, prompting the team to continue operations from abroad. The new ruling enables authorities to prosecute anyone linked to the foundation under anti-terrorism statutes, which carry harsher penalties than the earlier designation.
According to the Justice Ministry’s publicly available roster, more than 275 groups now appear on Russia’s list of “undesirable” organizations. Media outlets like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, research institutes such as Chatham House, advocacy organizations including Transparency International, and environmental groups like the World Wide Fund for Nature have all been added since the measure entered force a decade ago.
Founded in 1978, Human Rights Watch conducts investigations and publishes reports on abuses worldwide. The organization has documented alleged violations by Russian forces in Ukraine, including a recent study describing drones used to pursue and attack civilians in the Kherson region. Details of its global mandate are outlined on the group’s official site (hrw.org).
Following the invasion of Ukraine, authorities broadened the legal framework for suppressing criticism, introducing wartime censorship statutes that prohibit disseminating “false information” about the armed forces and banning references to the conflict as a “war.” Journalists, municipal deputies and ordinary citizens have received lengthy prison terms under these provisions, while dozens of outlets have been blocked or forced to close.
The use of terrorism and extremism branding has expanded in parallel. In 2022, a Moscow court labeled the parent company of Facebook and Instagram “extremist,” banning their operation domestically. Earlier this year, a network of LGBT organizations became the first social movement to be formally classified as extremist, criminalizing public displays of LGBT symbols and advocacy across Russia.
Legal analysts note that the overlapping categories of “undesirable,” “extremist” and “terrorist” status allow prosecutors wide discretion. Because involvement can be defined broadly, even reposting content or donating modest sums can trigger criminal liability. Human rights lawyers inside Russia say the climate has hindered access to counsel, with many attorneys reluctant to represent clients in politically sensitive cases.
The latest designations underscore the breadth of the government’s effort to insulate domestic audiences from independent reporting and international scrutiny. By blocking Human Rights Watch and moving against Pussy Riot and the Anti-Corruption Foundation in the same 24-hour period, authorities have signaled that cultural, investigative and advocacy work connected to foreign entities carries increased risk.
While HRW must cease operations on Russian territory, the group has previously shifted research on Chechnya, Crimea and other regions to teams based abroad. The new ruling, however, criminalizes collaboration with Russian citizens, limiting the organization’s ability to gather testimony or verify allegations from inside the country.
International bodies, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, have repeatedly urged Moscow to reverse measures that restrict civil society. The Russian government maintains that the designations are necessary to protect state security and prevent foreign interference.
With Friday’s decision, Human Rights Watch joins a growing list of organizations forced out of Russia, highlighting an official strategy that treats independent monitoring, anti-corruption work and artistic protest as threats to state stability.
Crédito da imagem: Associated Press
