The Russian government accused Human Rights Center Memorial, the country’s leading human rights organization, of plotting against the regime. The brazen accusation came in mid-November after three and a half years of the Kremlin’s staggering crackdown on critics of the government. Memorial has been a target all along, but this takes the Kremlin’s onslaught on independent groups to a chilling new level.
Memorial’s dedicated work, including in war zones, has been honored with prestigious international awards, such as the European Parliament’s Andrei Sakharov Prize. But in a recent report summarizing its investigation of the organization, the Justice Ministry described Memorial’s work as aimed at “undermining the foundations of Russia’s constitutional rule” and “calling for overthrowing the country’s political regime.”
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.
Subscriber+
