Russian President Vladimir Putin leads a meeting via a video conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
Vyacheslav Prokofyev / Sputnik / Keystone
President Vladimir Putin’s government is accelerating threats of criminal prosecution and fines against Russians and foreigners abroad that the state deems a security threat.
Russia is pursuing charities, news media and exiles abroad like never before.
The numbers targeted by the Kremlin have soared every year since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and are already on track to achieve record levels this year.
Among the latest examples are “Future Russia – Switzerland”External link, a community based in Geneva promoting democracy and human rights that was designated as a so-called “undesirable organisation” by the government of President Vladimir Putin on April 12. The designation effectively bans the group in Russia and exposes supporters, donors and participations to prosecution.
The group is the sixth with Swiss links to be picked out for punishment so far in 2026, as Russia accelerates its use of the measure globally. Those in past years have included charities such as the World Wildlife FundExternal link (WWF), with its globally famous panda logo, and the non-profit International Baccalaureate education foundation.
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Dissidents like to note that while Russia proscribes such seemingly benign organisations, it has consolidated ties with Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban, which was removed from the country’s list of banned terrorist groups only a year ago.
“It is one of the ways the authorities make life and work more difficult for activists and journalists who have left Russia, and a way to sever their ties with those who remain inside the country,” Tikhon Dzyadko, editor-in-chief of independent current affairs channel TV Rain (TV channel Dozhd), which escaped Russia for the Netherlands in 2022, told Swissinfo.
Fines and criminal prosecution
Any cooperation with a group designated an undesirable organisation can lead to fines and criminal prosecution in Russia. The country says the law aims to protect national security and the constitution, but lawyers and other experts argue its vague wording allows authorities to target almost any form of civic, educational or political activity.
The legislation, signed by Putin in 2015 a year after Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, was initially lightly used. The number of groups from all countries added to the undesirable list didn’t rise above four a year until 2020. It wasn’t until the full invasion of Ukraine two years later that figures surged almost exponentially.
In 2024, 67 mostly Western organisations were handed the designation, rising to 101 last year. Some 55 more were added in the first three and half months of 2026.
“The law can be used selectively whenever authorities decide to target a particular individual or group,” said a Russian lawyer, who declined to be identified for safety reasons. “In practice, the safest way to avoid prosecution is not to publish, promote, advertise or publicly support organizations designated as undesirable.”
Tikhon Dzyadko, editor in chief of independent Russian channel TV Rain (TV channel Dozhd).
Gints Ivuskans / Keystone
By now, the registry includes more than 350 organizations, among them independent media outlets, universities, think tanks, as well as human rights and exiled groups.
Signs of surveillance at events
Future Russia – Switzerland External linkis the twelfth addition from the Alpine nation, a figure boosted by the number of global groups headquartered in the country.
“This is the first official acknowledgment by the Russian state of the existence and activities of our community,” Future Russia’s representative Oleg Mikhailov told Swissinfo, noting previous signs of surveillance. “At some of our events, individuals unknown to participants would discreetly appear, film the gatherings, and then quickly leave as soon as someone attempted to engage them in conversation.”
Participants attend a Russia of the Future community event advocating for peace in Ukraine, human rights, and democratic freedoms in Russia.
Future Russia – Switzerland
Future Russia ran fundraisers and protests over the past year, attracting attention from the public and the media, and likely also from Russian authorities, he said.
The group campaigned against the visit of Valentina Matviyenko, chair of the upper house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, to Geneva for an international conference. Members of the delegation are under European Union and Swiss sanctions.
“Our work consists of supporting Russian political prisoners; helping Russian refugees and other people whom neither the Russian embassy nor, at times, local authorities are willing to assist; supporting Ukraine; and amplifying the voices of democratic and anti-war Russians living in Switzerland,” Mikhailov said.
Members advised against travelling to Russia
Since being targeted, the Swiss-based organisation has advised their members, supporters and partners against travelling to Russia. “Although we conduct no activities on Russian territory, the authorities may use the mere fact of cooperation with us as a pretext to prosecute individuals in Russia,” Mikhailov said.
The stakes are high. Managing an undesirable organisation is punishable by up to six years in prison.
Galina Timchenko accepts the Gwen Ifill Award at the 2022 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards in New York City.
Dimitrios Kambouris / AFP
Dzyadko of TV RainExternal link and Galina Timchenko, publisher of the independent news outlet Meduza,External link have both been targeted by similar criminal cases. Timchenko received a five-year sentence in absentia for alleged involvement in the activities of an “undesirable organization,” while Dzyadko was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison on charges of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army and violating Russia’s “foreign agent” legislation. He is currently on Russia’s wanted list.External link
Grigory MelkonyantsExternal link, one of the leaders of election-monitoring movement GolosExternal link, is currently serving a five-year prison term after prosecution by the authorities. Golos, founded in 2000, has exposed fraud and voting breaches in Russia’s elections.
“The charges are politically motivated and based on legally dubious grounds, including misrepresented evidence and disregard for the defendant’s rights,” said UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Russian Federation Mariana Katzarova.
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The decision to designate an organisation as undesirable is made by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Several organisations have challenged these decisions in domestic courts, but none has succeeded, the Russian lawyer told Swissinfo.
People who’ve been tagged by Moscow as members of an “undesirable organisation” risk being deported from certain countries, or even extradited to Russia, on crossing borders, making it dangerous to travel to many places.
Russia often misuses so-called Red Notices on wanted individuals, operated by the international police cooperation organisation Interpol, to harass dissidents. But the country also has its own database of people it seeks to target.
“Once a criminal case is opened, authorities can place a person on an inter-state wanted list, request extradition under bilateral agreements and so on,” said lawyer and human rights defender Anastasia Burakova, founder of KovchegExternal link, the largest support network for Russians facing persecution. “All legal consequences abroad begin with a criminal case.” In Russia, a court has sentenced Burakova to a combined term of eight years and two months in a general-regime penal colony. Since she lives abroad, the verdict was issued in absentia.
Russia’s wanted list is separate from Interpol and operates through the Commonwealth of Independent StatesExternal link, a group of former members of the Soviet Union.
“A person can be added to it without even knowing and then fly to somewhere like Kazakhstan, and that’s it,” Burakova said. “Authorities are not obliged to notify anyone that a criminal case has been opened.”
Switzerland is among the safest jurisdictions as courts carefully scrutinise Russian extradition requests, while British courts also regularly reject them as politically motivated, according to lawyers interviewed by Swissinfo.
Most European Union countries are typically considered safe for political exiles, although lawyers described Cyprus and Hungary as less predictable. Israel, Argentina and Montenegro are also viewed as relatively secure.
Lawyers discouraged travel to the United Arab Emirates, all CIS countries, Serbia, Thailand and Indonesia. Turkey and Mexico are considered unpredictable, while Georgia has become more risky in recent years. “In many countries, deportation is much easier and faster than extradition,” one lawyer said. Burakova warned that social media activity can create additional risks.
“People need to practice information hygiene,” she said. “No posts about movements or travel plans. The world is becoming smaller, but this is the reality we live in.”External linkExternal link
‘Works toward Russia’s destruction’
After exhausting all legal avenues in Russia, some filed complaints with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Although Russia had already been expelled from the Council of Europe by the time the ECHR published their ruling, the court retained jurisdiction because the complaints had been submitted previously.
The ECHR found Russia had violated several articlesExternal link of the European Convention on Human Rights, including provisions related to freedom of association.
“It makes absolutely no difference to us who founded abroad an organisation that undermines our country and works toward Russia’s destruction,” said Vasily Piskarev, head of the Russian state Duma parliamentary committee on anti-corruption and security. “If in our view its activities threaten our security or defence capabilities, it can also be declared undesirable.”
More than a dozen Russian-language media outlets in exile are now on the list.
Even sharing a link or reposting a logo can be deemed participation, according to Alexander Polivanov from OVD-InfoExternal link, a media project for human rights in Russia.
The parliament has further approved a bill, due to come into force in September, allowing courts to seize the property of individuals who’ve left the country to enforce fines for making public statements deemed against the interests of the state.
Still, Dzyadko at TV Rain doesn’t expect increased use of the “undesirable” tag to significantly hurt the diaspora community. With criminal cases already opened against him, he said that further administrative actions would have limited effect.
“It complicates work inside Russia and cuts us off from donations coming from Russia,” he said. “But we have learned how to deal with those restrictions.”
Edited by Tony Barrett/vm/ds
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