Russia’s ‘terrorists and extremists’ list is now sweeping up journalists and academics. Soon, Navalny donors could face life in prison.

In recent weeks, there’s been a sharp uptick in reports about new additions to Russia’s list of “terrorists and extremists.” Increasingly, the list includes not militants or separatists but ordinary opposition politicians, journalists, and public figures.

In October 2025 alone, Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service added the following people:

• Opposition politicians Vladimir Kara-Murza, Maksim Kruglov, and Ilya Yashin
• Journalists Tikhon Dzyadko, Yekaterina Kotrikadze, Ksenia Luchenko, Valeria Ratnikova, Anna Mongait, and Svetlana Khustik
• Analyst Mikhail Krutikhin
• Political scientists Alexander Morozov and Sergey Medvedev
• Historian Pavel Syutkin
• Sex education and LGBTQ+ rights activist Sasha Kazantseva
• Former Deputy Prime Minister Alfred Kokh
• Lawyer Nikolai Polozov
• Sociologist Igor Eidman

The “terrorists and extremists” list is now expanding almost faster than the Justice Ministry’s “foreign agents” registry, and it shows no sign of slowing down. Legal experts have described inclusion on the list as a form of “civil death.” Among other restrictions, people on the list have their bank accounts blocked and their monthly withdrawals capped at 10,000 rubles ($120).

Future additions to the list are usually anyone’s guess, but we do know of at least one group likely to be declared “terrorists” next month: individuals linked to the New York-based nonprofit Anti-Corruption Foundation, Inc. This is the overseas arm of the Alexey Navalny-founded Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which the organization established in 2021 to run its crowdfunding campaign.

On October 22, FBK staffer Leonid Volkov reported that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to label Anti-Corruption Foundation, Inc., a “terrorist organization.” According to Volkov, a closed hearing on the case is scheduled for November 27.

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The surge in “terrorists and extremists” designation is directly tied to amendments to Russia’s Federal Law “On Countering the Legalization (Laundering) of Criminally Obtained Income and the Financing of Terrorism,” which took effect on June 1. These amendments greatly expanded the criteria for adding someone to the registry.

Now, individuals can be blacklisted not only after conviction but even if they are merely suspected of:

• Violating Russia’s territorial integrity;
• “Discrediting” the armed forces, volunteer units, National Guard, or state authorities;
• Committing genocide;
• Committing any offense motivated by political, ideological, racial, national, or religious hatred — or hatred toward a “social group.”

There’s no definitive list of crimes. It’s enough for one of these motives to be treated as an aggravating factor, which in theory could apply to almost any offense.

The amendments also specify crimes where such motives serve as qualifying elements — including murder, bodily harm, torture, threats of murder, spreading “false information” about the military or authorities, disorderly conduct, desecration of graves, public calls against state security, and repeated display of Nazi or extremist symbols.

All the politicians, journalists, and public figures who have ended up on the “terrorists and extremists” list have been accused of at least one of these offenses. What’s new is that now, only a few weeks can pass between the accusation and a person’s inclusion in the Federal Financial Monitoring Service’s registry.

No, it wasn’t. Although the FBK has already been given several other stigmatizing labels:

• In 2019, the Justice Ministry designated the Russian nonprofit (not the U.S. one) as a “foreign agent.”
• In summer 2021, the Moscow City Court declared the Russian FBK an “extremist organization” and formally dissolved it.
• In December 2022, the U.S.-registered Anti-Corruption Foundation, Inc., was also listed as a “foreign agent.”
• In May 2023, the Justice Ministry declared Anti-Corruption Foundation, Inc., an “undesirable organization.”
• The New York–based FBK could also be added to the extremist organizations registry at any moment.

Yes — a major one. “Terrorists” automatically lose several legal protections, including the right to:

• Receive a sentence below the statutory minimum;
• Be exempted from liability due to the statute of limitations;
• Have a sentence postponed;
• Be released after the limitation period for serving the sentence expires.

Yes, Russian authorities will likely treat any future contributions to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Inc. as “financing terrorism.”

However, it’s unclear whether investigators will pursue older donations made in 2021–2022 under terrorism charges. So far, such cases — which have become common — are classified only as “financing extremist activity.” Unfortunately, the penalties for “financing terrorism” are much harsher.

For financing extremist activity:

• Minimum: 300,000-ruble fine (the equivalent of $3,685)
• Maximum: 8 years in prison (10 for organizers)

For financing terrorism:

• Minimum: 8 years in prison (15 for organizers)
• Maximum: life imprisonment

“Terrorists” are also ineligible for parole or reduced sentences.

It’s extremely difficult.

Removal is possible only if the grounds for inclusion are eliminated — for instance, if a court overturns the decision, charges are dropped, or a conviction is expunged. In some cases, not even death is enough: for example, Alexey Navalny remains listed in the registry even though he died in a Russian prison in February 2024.

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