Russia: Prominent human rights defenders targeted under “undesirable organizations” legislation

18 December 2025

Reacting to the detention of three prominent human rights defenders in Yekaterinburg on charges of "organizing activities of an undesirable organization," Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

"The Russian authorities are blatantly attempting to criminalize human rights work. By conducting intrusive searches and arbitrary arrests, and by criminalizing peaceful cooperation with international partners, the authorities are determined to force human rights defenders into submission.

"Russia's authorities must immediately release Aleksei Sokolov, Larisa Zakharova and Roman Kachanov and drop all charges against them, which stem solely from their human rights work. Instead of prosecuting those who expose the abuses of the justice and penal systems, the authorities should address these violations themselves."

"Russia's authorities must immediately release Aleksei Sokolov, Larisa Zakharova and Roman Kachanov and drop all charges against them, which stem solely from their human rights work."

Background

On 16 December, law enforcement officers carried out coordinated searches at the homes and workplaces of Yekaterinburg-based human rights defenders Aleksei Sokolov and Larisa Zakharova, as well as lawyer Roman Kachanov. All three work with "Human Rights Defenders of the Urals." They were subsequently charged under Article 284.1(3) of the Russian Criminal Code, for "organization of activities of an undesirable organization" which is punishable by up to six years' imprisonment.

The authorities have claimed that the case is connected to alleged cooperation with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, both designated "undesirable" in Russia.

Aleksei Sokolov is also currently facing criminal prosecution for the alleged display of "extremist symbols" based solely on references to Facebook in the online posts of their human rights group, following the Russian authorities' designation of Meta as an "extremist organization" and the resulting ban on links to its platforms. He spent six months between July 2024 and January 2025 in pre-trial detention before being released under restrictive measures.

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