The Russian Ministry of Justice has added the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) to its list of international NGOs whose activities are deemed undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation. The information appeared on the ministry’s official website on August 14, with no explanation given as to why the organization has been included in the registry.
Reporters Without Borders was founded in 1985 in Montpellier, with its headquarters in Paris. Its global mission focuses on defending press freedom, protecting journalists and internet users, fighting censorship, and advocating for the release of journalists imprisoned for their professional activities. The organization has no official office in Russia.
RSF publishes an annual World Press Freedom Index assessing the state of media freedom in countries around the globe. The 2025 ranking placed Russia 162nd out of 180 countries — nine spots lower than in 2024.
As of August 2025, Russia’s Ministry of Justice had designated 254 international non-governmental organizations as “undesirable.”. In recent weeks, the list has also been expanded to include the Poland-registered Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.