New investigation finds sharp rise in 'military' nonprofits in Russia since start of full-scale war

A new investigation from Novaya Gazeta Europe found that the number of nonprofit organizations working to support Russian soldiers and draftees has increased significantly since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The uptick began in late 2022, after Moscow announced its mobilization drive. By journalists’ calculations, in the first half of 2023, 505 nonprofits whose names suggest they are engaged in military-related or “military-patriotic” activities (such as fundraising for soldiers or veterans) have been registered in Russia. That’s about 34 percent more than in each of the previous two years.

In 2022, nonprofits in this category raised at least 113 billion rubles ($1.2 billion), or 28 percent more than in 2021. This figure does not include money raised by the new organizations that were registered in late 2022.