The Ziminy Foundation has been declared an “undesirable organisation”

The Prosecutor General’s Office has declared the British Zimin Foundation, established by Dmitry and Boris Zimin, an “undesirable organisation.” This was announced by the press service of the agency.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the foundation “provides financial and informational assistance to individuals and organisations involved in extremist activities and terrorism, and to foreign agents”; it implements “anti-Russian projects” worldwide and also supports “projects by journalists and scientists hostile to Russia.”

The Zimin Foundation, which focuses on supporting education and science, was created after the Ministry of Justice declared another charity founded by Dmitry Zimin—Dynasty—a “foreign agent” in May 2015. As a result of this decision, Dynasty ceased its operations.

16:04 The Zimin Foundation announced that it would end its collaboration with the Prosvetitel and Redkollegia awards, as well as the School of Theoretical and Molecular Biology, after being declared an “undesirable organisation.”

“Our foundation will continue its work, but we put the safety of our partners first, and so we will respect any decision you make regarding further cooperation,” the statement from the foundation said.

Both awards were founded by Dmitry Zimin. The Prosvetitel award is given for the best popular science books in Russian, while Redkollegia honours journalism. The School of Theoretical and Molecular Biology is a two-week summer school for students in years 9–11.