Russia bans World Wildlife Fund, accusing the environmental group of undermining Arctic development
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Russia’s Prosectuor General has outlawed the local operations of the World Wildlife Fund, designating the group as an “undesirable organization” on the grounds that it poses a threat to Russia’s national security:
Under the pretext of preserving the environment, WWF carries out activities aimed at preventing the implementation of the country’s policies for the industrial development of the Arctic and natural resources in [Russia’s] subarctic territories, and developing and legitimizing restrictions that could serve as the basis for shifting the Northern Sea Route into the U.S. exclusive economic zone.
Russian officials also accuse WWF of creating a network of “puppet nonprofits” designed to collect data about the environmental situation across the country in order to publish “biased” assessments intended deny Russian energy companies their supposedly rightful “green status” and “shackle” future economic development.
The Prosecutor General also accuses WWF of providing “material and methodological support” to multiple designated “foreign agents,” including Friends of the Baltic and Sakhalin Environmental Watch. Citing misdemeanor charges against members of these groups for participating in “unsanctioned mass protests,” the authorities argue that WWF thereby “meddled in Russia’s domestic affairs.”
In March 2023, Russia’s Justice Ministry designated WWF as a “foreign agent,” despite the fact that the World Wildlife Fund is not a Russian organization. (A year earlier, in April 2022, this was enough to prevent the Justice Ministry from following through with the designation.)
In May 2023, Russia’s Prosecutor General banned Greenpeace International as an “undesirable organization,” declaring the environmental group to be a national security threat.
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