Overview
- Russia’s Supreme Court labeled the Memorial movement extremist on Thursday, triggering a nationwide ban on its activity and exposing supporters to criminal charges.
- The judge ruled behind closed doors on a prosecutor’s request, naming a vague “international movement” that lawyers say lets officials punish anything tied to Memorial and called its work “anti-Russian.”
- Memorial called the ruling unlawful, said it will stop all work in Russia, urged people to remove its logo and avoid reposting texts, and will keep operating from exile.
- The label can turn past donations, social posts or contact with branches—even abroad—into crimes for Russians, and rights groups warn it could be enforced retroactively.
- The move follows years of crackdowns, including a “foreign agent” tag in 2016 and a 2021 shutdown, as its archives stay online and Moscow police the same day searched Novaya Gazeta’s newsroom.