On August 4, 2025, Mediazona published an article titled “A Federal Program Is Underway,” reporting the launch of a large-scale campaign targeting individuals who donated money to FBK between August 2021 and February 2022.

1. The persecution over “FBK donations” is unlawful.

We are not extremists and have never engaged in any extremist activities. Donations made by our supporters via Russian bank cards through Stripe were sent to the U.S.-registered legal entity, which, until June 2023, was not listed as “undesirable,” “extremist,” or otherwise illegal. Furthermore, we disabled donations via Russian cards as early as February 2022.

Everyone targeted by the Russian state in this way is a victim of blatant arbitrariness and mass political repression. The responsibility for this repression lies with their architect—Vladimir Putin—and his regime.

2. Over the past three years, the already dire Russian “law enforcement system” has gone through another period of degradation.

Security agencies have begun retroactively criminalizing actions that were not considered illegal before February 24, 2022. The repressive campaign against FBK supporters is part of this trend.

In case files, “technical reports by Sberbank specialists” are used as the basis for convictions. These reports deliberately provide false information, alleging that a certain identifier in the Stripe system is connected to the Russian NGO “FBK” which had been labeled extremist.

Before 2022, even Russian law enforcement would have been ashamed to base criminal cases on such “evidence.” But under Russia’s new “legal system”, this is now considered sufficient.

3. Our legal assistance line remains open: pravo@navalny.com.

We continue to receive inquiries from potential victims of state persecution, and we are providing them with the necessary legal support. We have also warned a significant number of potential defendants about emerging risks. Several individuals have been successfully evacuated.

We will continue this work.