Russia’s financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring is adding between 250 and 350 people every month to its official register of “terrorists and extremists”. According to an investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe, the list now includes 18,771 individuals.
In recent weeks, new additions have included blogger Ilya Varlamov, culinary historian Pavel Syutkin, and opposition politicians Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza. Every tenth person added to the list is reportedly a minor, and one in five is a Ukrainian citizen.
The registry has been expanding at an accelerating pace. Around 1,400 people were added in 2022, compared to 3,200 in 2024. In the first ten months of 2025 alone, more than 3,000 names were added — an average of 319 per month, roughly double the rate seen in the early years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Human rights advocates warn of new patterns: since summer 2025, minors have accounted for 10% of all new entries, while the number of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians placed on the list has also grown steadily since 2023.
Experts link the surge to tighter legislation and broader powers granted to Rosfinmonitoring, which now includes not only those convicted but also suspects under investigation.
Today, there are more people in the registry than have ever been sentenced under terrorism and extremism articles,” Novaya Gazeta Europe notes.
Being listed carries severe consequences — frozen bank accounts, restrictions on employment and social rights, and a near-total exclusion from normal public life. Removal is rare and usually occurs only after a conviction is expunged.
In 2025, by mid-October, 559 people were removed from the list, while 3,031 were added, according to the publication.
Read the full report here: Novaya Gazeta Europe
Illustration: Rystic
