UN Special Rapporteurs on April 9 condemned an ongoing strategy by Russian authorities to silence dissent, human rights advocacy, and anti-war expression. They warned that this represents a "systematic dismantling" of civil society under the guise of protecting national security and public safety.

Over 343 organizations have been deemed "undesirable," 1,173 individuals and groups have been designated as "foreign agents," and 830 organizations and 20,813 individuals have been put on "terrorist" and "extremist" watch lists. 

This has recently escalated with the targeting of several key Russian human rights organizations. On April 8, six activists from the Vesna youth movement were sentenced to 8-to-12 years imprisonment for participating in an "extremist organization" because of their opposition to the Ukraine war.

These efforts to restrict fundamental freedoms have progressed since the beginning of the war against Ukraine in 2022. The rapporteurs describe a "repressive toolbox" used by authorities, stating:

[T]he government has deployed methods like massive designations or organisations as "undesirable" or "foreign agent," along with the intstrumentalisation of national security and public safety legislation to target lawyers, journalists, anti-war activists, and human rights defenders.

On April 9, Russia's Ministry of Justice requested that Nobel Peace Prize laureate International Memorial Movement be designated as an "extremist organization." The move follows the liquidation of two Memorial-affiliated organizations under the "foreign agents" law in 2021. The rapporteurs said this new designation "reflects a deliberate and calculated strategy to spread fear among Russian people and deprive them from independent information, human rights defence, advocacy, and legal assistance." 

The Memorial Human Rights Defence Center in a statement highlighted its 40-year history of investigating Soviet-era state terror and political persecution, and asserted: "We understand that the case against 'Memorial' is yet another attempt to intimidate all dissenting voices in the country and silence civil society."

Russian authorities have also targeted indigenous human rights defenders. For example, in June 2024, the Supreme Court of Russia grouped together 55 indigenous and minority organizations as a "movement" to label them as "extremist," a move met with condemnation by the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia. This has also resulted in arbitrary detentions of rights advocates Daria Egereva and Natalya Leongardt. They were charged for their involvement with Aborigen Forum, an informal network of indigenous defenders.

Other examples show how widespread this pattern of repression has been throughout the Ukraine war. In November 2025, Russian authorities outlawed Human Rights Watch as an "undesirable organization," which effectively criminalized involvement in the group. Around the same time, the prosecutor general's office opened a case against Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot seeking to have them designated as extremists, after several members have already been imprisoned. Additionally, authorities labelled the Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by the late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny a "terrorist organization."

HRW has also recently warned of escalating online censorship, including internet and cellular access shutdowns and the blocking of Telegram, one of the most popular social media platforms in Russia.

From JURIST, April 11. Used with permission. Internal links added.

See our last report on resistance and repression in Russia. See our last podcasts on the internet crackdown and the persistence of dissidence.