Fines and pressure for violating legislation on “undesirable” organisations: Human rights news from Russia, court updates & analysis | 30 related articles

05.04.2025

13:38

On 1 April, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow fined Meduza special correspondent Lilia Yapparova 15,000 roubles (approximately US$160). This was reported by the city courts’ unified press service.

Yapparova was found guilty under the article on participation in an “undesirable” organisation (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences). It is not known exactly what led to the fine.

In January 2023, the Prosecutor General’s Office declared SIA Medusa Project (the legal entity of Meduza) an “undesirable” organisation.

01.04.2025

12:47

Moscow

The Meshchansky District Court in Moscow has fined political analyst Ekaterina Schulmann and Central Asia specialist Temur Umarov for their cooperation with the Berlin-based Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, according to TASS and SOTAvision.

Each of them was fined 10,000 roubles (approx. US$110) for “participating in the activities of an ‘undesirable organisation’” (under Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences), as the centre is affiliated with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Last year, the Endowment was declared ‘undesirable’ in Russia.

In Schulmann’s case, the prosecutor’s office, which drew up the report, noted that the political analyst is mentioned as an expert for the Berlin Carnegie Center in the media. The case files also referenced her interview on the centre’s YouTube channel.

Schulmann’s lawyer, Alkhas Abgadzhava, pointed out procedural violations during the hearing: Schulmann’s place of birth was listed incorrectly in the report, and her old passport details were used.

The defence also disagreed with the charge itself: “Participating in activities means facilitating some kind of activity… If an interview with the President of the Russian Federation ends up published on the resources of an ‘undesirable organisation,’ that does not mean the prosecutor’s office would consider them a person facilitating undesirable organisations.”

25.03.2025

21:37

Evgeny Feldman, staff photographer for Meduza, has been fined five thousand roubles (US$55) under the article concerning participation in the activities of an “undesirable organisation” (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences). His lawyer, Yuri Shofarenko, informed OVD-Info of this.

The reason was a YouTube video in which Feldman talks about photographers at war.

An error has been corrected in the text of this news item. Initially, it stated Mikhail Feldman, but in fact, the fine was imposed on Evgeny Feldman.

27.02.2025

16:43

Novosibirsk Oblast

The Kalininsky District Court of Novosibirsk—a major city in Siberia—has fined human rights activist Anna Tazheeva 5,000 roubles (US$55) for supporting a migrant family following attacks from the “Russian Community” group. This was reported by Mediazona, citing a source who was present at the hearing.

Tazheeva was found guilty under the article on participation in the activities of an “undesirable organisation” (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

The reason for the protocol was a post by the activist on VKontakte, in which she shared a link to a video from the YouTube channel “League of Free Nations,” which has been declared an “undesirable organisation” by the authorities.

The video described how residents of the settlement of Svetly in Novosibirsk Oblast stood up for a family who had moved there from Kyrgyzstan and were targeted by the far-right “Russian Community” group. The migrant family’s child faced bullying at school. His father made one of the bullies apologise to his son. After this, the mother of the alleged bully contacted the “Russian Community,” and criminal cases were brought against the parents of the bullied child. The story was covered in detail by the BBC Russian Service.

Tazheeva was among those who supported the family from Kyrgyzstan. After this, she too was targeted by the “Russian Community” through the group’s Telegram channel. Mediazona notes that the administrative protocol against Tazheeva was compiled after complaints from five individuals. A source familiar with the case suggests that the authors of the complaints may be connected to the “Russian Community.”

In January, Natalia Shishkina, a deputy of the Prokudsky Village Council in the Kochenevsky District of Novosibirsk Oblast, was fined under a similar protocol because of the same video. She also defended the family and was likewise criticised by the “Russian Community.”