18 February 2026
What are the risks of participating in the ‘undesirable’ international Memorial* organization?
by Leonid Nikitinsky
Source: Novaya gazeta
On 17 February, Zukunft Memorial e.V. (‘Future. Memorial’, Germany) and the International Memorial Association (Switzerland) were added to the Ministry of Justice’s list of undesirable organizations.
This grassroots community of ‘Memorials’, started mainly between 1987 and 1992, has a complex, multi-level structure depending on geographical location and specific focus areas, which are primarily historical, educational, and human rights-related.
In December 2021, at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and Moscow City Court liquidated the International Memorial Society** and the Memorial Human Rights Centre**, respectively. In October 2022, the Tverskoi district court transferred the Memorial premises on Karetny Ryad, in Moscow, to state ownership. But their most valuable asset — the archive of Stalinist repressions — had already been digitized and preserved by members of Memorial, allowing them to continue their historical work and investigate victims of repression on behalf of inquiring citizens.
‘Memorialists’ are a certain breed of person; being one is a way of life. Indeed, most of them continued their lawful activities even after the umbrella organizations were liquidated. Many were forced to leave the country in 2022, but many remained.
What’s in store for them after the latest decision by the Ministry of Justice?
Under Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, participation in the activities of a foreign or international organization that has been declared undesirable within the territory of the Russian Federation entails an administrative fine of 5,000 to 15,000 roubles for individuals, and 50,000 to 100,000 roubles for legal entities, provided their actions do not constitute a criminal offence.
According to parts 1-3 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the same actions by an individual who has already been subject to administrative liability, as well as the act of providing funds for such activities or organizing them, may result in imprisonment for a term of up to four and a half years and six years, respectively.
According to OVD-Info*, no less than 56 sentences were handed down in 2025 in cases related to involvement with ‘undesirable’ organizations. In five cases, defendants were given prison terms in absentia (including Kirill Martynov*, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe**), 30 received non-custodial sentences, and three received actual prison terms.
The most well-known of them is Grigory Melkonyants, co-chairman of the Golos movement*, who was accused of organizing the activities of the European Network for Election Monitoring (ENEMO) and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. However, Golos was not a subsidiary of ENEMO and, immediately after the group was declared ‘undesirable’ in 2021, stated that it had no relationship with it.
Yesterday’s decision by the Ministry of Justice declared only two Memorial organizations, one in Germany and one in Switzerland, to be ‘undesirable’, but the risk is high that Russian courts will treat as a crime any interaction with any foreign organization with the word ‘Memorial’ in its name.
The Melkonyants case shows that courts can arbitrarily, including solely on the basis of similarities, deem that any given individual ‘participated’ in an undesirable organization.
The Memorialists we were able to speak with are not giving public statements yet — they first need to develop their position as a group. Ultimately, everyone will determine for themselves how much risk they are willing to take. As one person we spoke to said, Memorial is the memory of millions of people; it is an idea, not a structure. An idea cannot be banned.
* Designated a ‘foreign agent’ by the Ministry of Justice.
** This organization has been added to the Russian Federation’s register of undesirable entities.
Translated by Nina dePalma
