Individuals involved in cases under “anti-war” articles have started to be added to the list of “extremists and terrorists.”

Individuals involved in cases under “anti-war” articles—on “fake news” (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and on “discrediting the army” (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code)—have started to be added to Rosfinmonitoring’s “list of extremists and terrorists.” The Insider draws attention to this.

Those added to the list already include Valentina Kogut, given a suspended sentence of two years over a video, and the Ukrainian journalist Yanina Sokolovska, who was sentenced in absentia to seven years in a penal colony in a “fake news” case.

At the end of 2024, the State Duma passed a law expanding the grounds for inclusion on the Rosfinmonitoring list. According to the amendments, those convicted, suspected, or accused of any crime committed “on grounds of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or hostility, or on grounds of hatred or hostility towards any social group” can be added to the list. This not only applies to “anti-war” articles but also to several others—for example, violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation (Article 280.2 of the Criminal Code), or incitement to activity against the security of the state (subparagraph d, part 2, Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code). The law came into force on 1 June.

OVD-Info lawyer Valeria Vetoshkina believes the new law is yet another repressive measure: ‘A law that worsens the situation of convicted individuals should not have retroactive force, so from a human rights protection standpoint, those with old convictions should not be included in the Rosfinmonitoring list. Whether this will be observed in practice, however, is a contentious legal question. On one hand, Article 54 of the Constitution states that a law establishing or aggravating responsibility does not have retroactive force. On the other, the Russian authorities might argue that being placed on the register is not criminal liability or a punishment, but some additional preventive measure. In reality, as we understand, whatever it is called, being on the register makes people’s situation worse.’

• Being included on the Rosfinmonitoring list leads to restrictions on financial transactions. People on the list are allowed to spend no more than the minimum wage per month on themselves—currently, this amount is 22,400 roubles (about US$250). The same amount can be spent on each family member without their own income. To access a larger sum, one must submit a request to the bank, which then contacts Rosfinmonitoring. OVD-Info has previously reported on how these restrictions work and how people on the list deal with them.