OVD-Info is one of Russia’s most prominent human rights organizations, having helped tens if not hundreds of thousands of Russians navigate repression and violence at the hands of law enforcement. Since December 2011, the group has supported people facing political persecution and documented repression throughout the country. On June 4, Rosfinmonitoring — Russia’s financial monitoring agency — added OVD-Info to a list of “extremist” organizations, along with dozens of other groups tied to Memorial, which appeared on the same list in April. Meduza spoke with OVD-Info director Alexander Polivanov about what his team plans to do next.
In Russia, getting designated an “extremist” or “terrorist” organization is always the authorities’ nuclear option — the worst thing they can do to an organization. Did you ever think OVD-Info might end up in their crosshairs like this?
We thought about it when Memorial was designated an extremist organization. We knew it was possible in principle. But it’s still quite a surprise, even so.
We have no connection to Memorial — we’re an entirely different organization. So while we kept in mind the risk of being labeled “extremist,” we didn’t think it was all that likely.
But this wasn’t the scenario we would have called most likely — or most obvious.
If you had those risks in mind, were you preparing for something like this? What are you going to do now?
We have a protocol for exactly this — who does what in the first hour, who does what in the next few hours, in the first day, the first week, and so on. We’ve pulled it out and put it to work. Just having that plan has kept things from getting too emotional — everyone knows what they’re supposed to do.
It’s a heavy, toxic designation that’s going to make things harder for us, but we’re not going to stop. Repression in Russia continues, and we want it to end — so we’ll keep working.
Taking care of the people connected to OVD-Info — the people who’ve worked with us — is, of course, our top priority. That’s what we’re thinking about first. But I’d rather not get into specifics on that.
OVD-Info pledges to continue its work. The team told people living in Russia — or planning to travel there — to stop donating and to delete any reposts of or links to OVD-Info content. “Following us and reading what we publish is still legal. We’re staying in touch — we won’t give up that easily,” the organization said in a statement.
Rosfinmonitoring’s list has OVD-Info down as one of Memorial’s “structural subdivisions,” but you’re saying you have no connection to it. Why do you think the authorities decided to link you to Memorial? Was it basically to save themselves the trouble of a whole new case and more paperwork?
When it comes to the Russian authorities, we’re really dealing with a black box — there’s almost nothing I can tell you. No lawyers were allowed into the hearing where Memorial was designated an extremist organization [on April 9, 2026] — it was a closed hearing, and the case file was too. People at Memorial don’t know what the ruling says. And neither do we.
We also have no idea how — or why — OVD-Info got linked to Memorial. We can only guess. Maybe it was some kind of deliberate move — to get as many organizations as possible labeled extremist or terrorist in a single ruling, make their lives harder, and disrupt their work.
Or maybe it’s just one person’s careless mistake — someone who doesn’t know that OVD-Info and Memorial are two different organizations. But I’d rather not go through every possible theory.
What should people who support OVD-Info do right now?
Anyone in Russia — or anyone who travels there — should not donate to us. We dropped ruble payments a while back, keeping only dollars and euros, but now we’re also asking anyone who still travels to Russia to stop donating.
What’s going to happen to the hotline where people can get legal help?
We’ve temporarily shut down the chatbot and the hotline. We’ll keep going — we just need some time to regroup.
Where can people turn if they need help right now, while you’re still regrouping?
Other organizations, or individual lawyers you trust. But I don’t want to name anyone right now — I don’t want to risk tainting them by association with us.
