Russia is closing the offices of several well-known international organizations, including German party foundations and the human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
The Ministry of Justice announced on Friday evening in Moscow that they had been excluded "from the official register of foreign non-governmental organizations" in Russia for "violations of Russian law".
This corresponds to the de facto closure, commented Amnesty International.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the 15 organizations affected include the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the FDP-affiliated Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the political institute Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Polish organization Wspolnota Polska.
Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said the organizations were "punished for defending human rights and telling the truth to the Russian authorities".
However, the government in Moscow is mistaken if it believes that by closing the Moscow office it will be able to prevent Amnesty from “documenting and uncovering human rights violations”.
Human Rights Watch also announced that it would continue to investigate human rights violations in Russia.
“Aggression against liberal, democratic values”
The chairman of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Karl-Heinz Paqué, said in Berlin: "Anyone who campaigns for civil and human rights in Russia will be punished, threatened and harassed." President Vladimir Putin's "aggressions" "against liberal and democratic values go far beyond Ukraine”.
The new wave of expulsions from civil society organizations is "a further step from authoritarianism to totalitarianism".
Since the beginning of Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, numerous Russian and foreign media outlets have had their websites blocked in Russia.
Deutsche Welle (DW), which was banned from broadcasting in Russia at the beginning of February, was classified as a "foreign agent" at the end of March.
The so-called Foreign Agents Act obliges individuals and organizations that receive financial support from abroad to mark their publications specifically.
In March, the authorities also passed a number of laws that Russia says would punish "false information" about the conflict with heavy prison sentences.
In December, Russia's Supreme Court banned the NGO Memorial International.
The verdict was confirmed at the end of February.
The oldest and most important human rights organization in Russia had also been accused of violating the Foreign Agents Law.