Russias Supreme Courtdesignated 172 indigenous groups as terrorist organizations, accusing them of lobbying for secession and supporting Ukraines military, the Prosecutor Generals 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 prosecutors office said, alleging that their goal is to break Russia into smaller states under the influence of unfriendly countries.Last year, the Prosecutor Generals Office labeled the Free Nations of PostRussia Forum an undesirable organization, citing threats to Russias 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 Fridays ruling are the Baltic Republican Party, the Ingria movement and the Free Yakutia Foundation three organizations already labeled extremist by Russias Justice Ministry earlier this year.Sargylana Kondakova, co-founder of the Free Yakutia Foundation, anIndigenous 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 authoritiesdescription of its activities.This decision is defamation in its purest form, Kondakova told The Moscow Times, referring to Fridays 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 banneda vaguely defined anti-Russian separatist movement as extremist, though rights groups have noted the absence of any formally established organization by that name.Russias Justice Ministry laterlabeled 54 Indigenous groups and the United States -based Free Russia Foundation as extremist organizations.