Free, anonymous psychological support for people affected by, or afraid of, political persecution and for their families; an information line and safety guides.
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What it is. The list of 'terrorists and extremists' is kept by Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's financial intelligence agency. By law no conviction is needed: being a suspect or defendant under an 'extremist' or 'terrorist' article is enough. Since mid-2025 the grounds also include 'discrediting' the army, art. 280.3 of the Criminal Code (art. 6 pt 2.1 of Law 115-FZ). Being listed is not a conviction and not a court finding that you are a terrorist. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, by mid-2026 the list contained 21,541 people, at least 5,063 of whom had been prosecuted on political grounds.
Money in Russia. Banks freeze accounts. By law you can still receive a salary, pension, student grant and benefits, and pay taxes and fines. You can spend salary and other income up to the minimum wage per month for yourself and for each family member who lives with you and has no income of their own: in 2026 that is 27,093 roubles per person. The old limit of 10,000 roubles has not applied since 1 June 2025. Since June 2026, if a listed person is on the wanted list, banks also suspend these operations, except taxes and fines. From February 2027 these operations will require an application to Rosfinmonitoring naming your accounts (later for people already on the list).
How people find out and what to check. Many learn they are listed when a bank blocks their card or refuses a transaction. You can check yourself on the Rosfinmonitoring website; the link is in the 'Am I on a list?' section, and the site often does not open from abroad. According to First Line, in practice property deals and inheritance require Rosfinmonitoring's permission, and finding work is hard. Keep banks' written replies and copies of your case documents.
Getting off the list. By law you are removed if the criminal case or prosecution is dropped, the conviction is overturned with rehabilitation, or the conviction is spent or lifted (art. 6 pt 2.2 of Law 115-FZ). If there are grounds but you were not removed, or you were listed by mistake, you can send a written application to Rosfinmonitoring. It is reviewed within 10 working days, and a refusal can be challenged in court (pt 2.3). In practice, according to First Department (a 'foreign agent'), the procedure is vague and removal drags on. It is better to prepare the application with a lawyer.
Abroad. Data from the list flows automatically into the customer screening databases LSEG World-Check, LexisNexis and Dow Jones, and from there to Western banks. As a result, banks in Europe and the Americas ask for documents or close accounts without any evidence of links to terrorism. This has been described by the Carnegie Endowment ('undesirable' in Russia, November 2025) and UN Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova (report A/HRC/63/60, September 2026). Keep documents showing the political nature of your case at hand. World-Check lets you find out for free whether you are in its database and ask for the record to be corrected or supplemented. This does not always help, so it is better to act with a lawyer.
Family and namesakes. By law being related to someone is not in itself grounds for listing. In practice, according to First Line, relatives are also refused jobs and university places. According to First Department, sending money to a listed person is not yet a crime, but their accounts are frozen, so people help through fundraisers run by family or rights groups. On 23 September 2026 Meduza ('undesirable' in Russia) reported a Rosfinmonitoring draft: banks could halt a client's operations for 5 working days if their data only partly matches a listed person's. The draft has not been adopted, but namesakes could be caught. Who can help: First Department (a 'foreign agent') advises on the list and on cases; OVD-Info (a 'foreign agent', designated 'extremist' in Russia and itself on the list) keeps data on the list.
Designations of organisations in this guide: OVD-Info (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.