Russia Labels 172 Indigenous Groups as ‘Terrorist’ Organizations – The Moscow Times

Russia’s Supreme Court designated 172 indigenous groups as “terrorist” organizations, accusing them of lobbying for secession and supporting Ukraine’s military, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced Friday.

Authorities claimed these groups are “structural subdivisions” of the Free Nations of PostRussia Forum, a Poland-based organization founded in 2022. The forum describes itself as a platform advocating for the decolonization and fragmentation of Russia into 41 independent states.

“The organization is led by self-proclaimed leaders of national-separatist movements who have fled abroad,” the prosecutor’s office said, alleging that their goal is to break Russia into smaller states under the influence of “unfriendly countries.”

Last year, the Prosecutor General’s Office labeled the Free Nations of PostRussia Forum an “undesirable organization,” citing threats to Russia’s constitutional order and security. This designation criminalizes any interaction with the forum.

The Supreme Court was scheduled to review the request to classify the forum as a “terrorist organization” on Nov. 14.

Among the groups listed in Friday’s ruling are the Baltic Republican Party, the Ingria movement and the Free Yakutia Foundation — three organizations already labeled “extremist” by Russia’s Justice Ministry earlier this year.

Sargylana Kondakova, co-founder of the Free Yakutia Foundation, an Indigenous rights group from the republic of Sakha (Yakutia), said her organization is not a part of the Free Nations of PostRussia Forum and rejected the Russian authorities’ description of its activities.

“This decision is defamation in its purest form,” Kondakova told The Moscow Times, referring to Friday’s “terrorist” designation. “We do not position ourselves as a nationalist separatist movement, we do not have a goal of partitioning the Russian Federation into multiple states.”

“We are an independent organization that focuses on advocating for the rights of Indigenous people living in the republic of Sakha and combatting propaganda within the republic,” she added. “We do consider ourselves a decolonial movement because decolonizing Russia is a prerequisite for future peace.”

In June, the Supreme Court banned a vaguely defined “anti-Russian separatist movement” as “extremist,” though rights groups have noted the absence of any formally established organization by that name.

Russia’s Justice Ministry later labeled 54 Indigenous groups and the U.S.-based Free Russia Foundation as “extremist” organizations.