Russia's Justice Ministry has added six organizations to its list of 'undesirable' groups, according to the registry on the ministry's website. The list now includes the U.S.-based Human Rights Foundation, which the Prosecutor General's Office announced on August 6 it would designate as 'undesirable.' At the time, the agency claimed the foundation was developing recommendations for the U.S. administration on imposing anti-Russian sanctions and 'trying to track financial flows' from Russia to freeze assets.
Also added were the U.S.-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and the non-profit The Remembrance Society. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, established in 1993, awarded a prize to Alexei Navalny in 2021. The Remembrance Society documents crimes of totalitarian regimes, including Stalinist repressions, and is a partner of the human rights organization Memorial.
The list also includes the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen in Germany, which studies, among other things, Soviet samizdat, and the Georgian anti-war community 'Russians of Batumi,' whose members help Ukrainian refugees and hold letter-writing evenings for political prisoners.
In addition, the 'Association of Free Russians in Italy' (Associazione dei Russi Liberi in Italia) was declared 'undesirable.' TV Rain noted that Russian authorities had already designated this group as 'undesirable' under a different name — Comunità dei Russi Liberi in Italia. The association, founded in 2021, organizes peaceful demonstrations and advocates for Ukraine's victory in its war with Russia.
The Prosecutor General's Office had not previously announced that five of these organizations were being declared 'undesirable.' Being designated 'undesirable' bans an organization's activities in Russia and exposes those who cooperate with it to criminal prosecution.