“Terrorists and extremists”: Russia escalates the criminalisation of independent journalism

In Russia, investigating repression is now treated by the authorities as an act of terrorism. On 5 June, the NGO and media OVD-Info was added to the official register of "extremist" organisations, one day after it was put on the "list of terrorists and extremists" maintained by Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's financial monitoring agency. For 15 years, OVD-Info has documented arbitrary arrests and human rights violations, provided free legal assistance to victims of political persecution and served as an important source for journalists.

The decision was based on an April 2026 ruling by the Russian Supreme Court that designated the "International Public Movement Memorial" - a fabricated entity that does not legally exist - as an "extremist" organisation. According to the authorities, the "International Public Movement Memorial" regroups the real human rights organisation Memorial - which won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize - and several of its partner organisations, including OVD-Info. The case was conducted in the strictest secrecy. There were no adversarial proceedings, the case file was classified as confidential and the ruling was never made public. Anyone collaborating with these organisations - be they lawyers, journalists, volunteers, donors or people simply sharing the organisations' content on social media - is now exposed to criminal prosecution.

Independent journalism equated with terrorism

The case of OVD-Info is part of a broader trend. In 2025, at least 30 media professionals were added to the list of terrorists and extremists", compared with 18 the previous year, according to RSF information. Tikhon Dzyadko, the editor-in-chief of the independent exiled broadcaster Dojd (TV Rain), is one of the most emblematic cases. Living abroad for several years, he had already been labelled a "foreign agent", prosecuted for spreading purported "false information" about the army and placed on a Russian wanted list before being added to the list of "terrorists" in October 2025.

"The message to the public is simple: these people are terrorists; do not listen to them, read them or watch them," he told RSF. Other recently targeted journalists include Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, and Ksenia Luchenko, a journalist who covers the Orthodox Church.

Moreover, in 2025, nearly a quarter of new criminal prosecutions brought against journalists in Russia were based on extremism or terrorism charges, according to the Russian human rights NGO Mass Media Defence Centre (MMDC). For example, Olesya Krivtsova, a journalist with the Norwegian online media outlet The Barents Observer, was sentenced in absentia on 3 July to five years' imprisonment for "discrediting the army" and "justifying terrorism".

A means of mass criminalisation

Initially designed to combat violent organisations, the list of "terrorists and extremists" has become a tool of political control. Data compiled by OVD-Info show that the names on the register have almost doubled since 2021. It now includes nearly 22,000 people, and approximately three times as many people were added in 2025 as in 2021. The authorities can add someone to the list at any stage of a proceeding, sometimes on the basis of mere suspicion. Since 2025, they have also been able to collectively designate entire organisations as "extremist", paving the way for the simultaneous criminalisation of newsrooms, NGOs and their partners, as in the case of the independent regional media outlet Komi Daily.

What are the concrete consequences?

Being added to the list of "terrorists and extremists" has immediate effects, including:

• frozen bank accounts and assets in Russia
• the risk of blocked bank accounts abroad, particularly within institutions that use international databases fed by the Russian authorities
• a ban on financing, supporting or promoting organisations on the list
• criminal prosecution that can lead to sentences of up to 10 or 12 years' imprisonment, depending on the charges
• a ban on using or even displaying the symbols of an organisation designated as "extremist", with the risk of detention and then imprisonment in the event of a repeat offence

Beyond these legal and financial consequences, designations like "terrorist and extremist" aim to permanently discredit journalists and independent media by equating them with enemies of the state.

A tiered approach to repression

The increasing use of such labels is part of a broader repressive legislative arsenal in which various legal statuses reinforce one another.

• Foreign agent. Created in 2012, this status imposes heavy administrative obligations and requires publications to systematically display the label "foreign agent" on their content. It is mainly used to stigmatise voices critical of the Kremlin and obstruct their reporting. Nearly 500 journalists and media outlets are currently labelled "foreign agents", including Galina Timchenko, editor-in-chief of Meduza.
• Undesirable organisation. This status bans all of an organisation's activities in Russia and exposes anyone collaborating with or financing it to criminal prosecution. In August 2025, the Russian Ministry of Justice added RSF to its list of "undesirable organisations".
• Extremist. This designation criminalises participation in, support for or the financing of an organisation. It can lead to prison sentences, asset freezes and a ban on any activity linked to the organisation in question.
• Terrorist. The financial consequences are more immediate than under the "extremist" label as accounts and assets are automatically frozen, and the designation carries a particularly strong stigma. In practice, the boundaries between terrorism and extremism are becoming increasingly blurred and now constitute the highest levels of Russia's repressive arsenal.

A strategy that extends beyond Russia

The instrumentalisation of the concept of "extremism" extends beyond Russia's borders and has become a favoured tool of authoritarian regimes in the region to criminalise independent journalism.

In Belarus, where the abuse of the "extremist" label has been systematised since 2020, RSF has recorded more than 60 media outlets labelled "extremist". Journalist Kiryl Pazniak was sentenced on 26 June to three and a half years in prison after his YouTube channel was classified as "extremist". His daughter was also convicted for creating the media outlet's TikTok account. This case illustrates how the regime is extending repression beyond the targeted journalists, punishing their relatives and criminalising activities linked to independent media.

The same logic is at work in Kyrgyzstan, where Kloop and Temirov Live have become the first independent media outlets to be designated as "extremist", illustrating an increasingly marked regional trend of misusing anti-terrorism and anti-extremism legislation to silence independent voices.