Lev Ponomarev is resurrecting his human rights group, after Russia's Supreme Court dissolved it last week

Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomarev says he’s creating a new organization from the ashes of his “For Human Rights” movement, which the Russian Supreme Court dissolved last week in accordance with demands by the Justice Ministry. “We’re creating a new movement — an association unregistered as a legal entity. It will provisionally retain its name, absorbing part of the ‘For Human Rights’ nationwide movement. This is a new association with new leadership,” Ponomarev announced on the movement’s website.

Russia’s Justice Ministry targeted Ponomarev’s organization for supposed constitutional violations and infractions against laws regulating so-called “foreign agents,” which place operational restrictions on politically active groups that receive funding from abroad.

“For Human Rights” was listed as a foreign agent for the second time in its history in February of 2019, following an “unplanned document check” by the Justice Ministry. Ponomarev had previously been arrested and jailed in December for supporting youth protesters. His organization had also been included on the foreign agent list in December 2014, but it was removed a year later.