Russia’s main intelligence agency on Tuesday announced a sweeping terrorism investigation into nearly two dozen antiwar Russians, escalating the Kremlin’s onslaught against exiled critics of the invasion of Ukraine.
The agency, the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., said that it suspected a group called the Russian Antiwar Committee of plotting to overthrow the government. The committee, which was founded by the anti-Kremlin tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, includes exiled politicians, law professors and other prominent professionals.
The F.S.B. accused Mr. Khodorkovsky, who was imprisoned for 10 years in Russia on what his lawyers called politically motivated charges, of setting up a “terrorist organization.” In a statement, the agency said that the committee aimed to “seize power by force and change the constitutional order in Russia” by funding Ukrainian Army units and recruiting individuals inside Russia.
The criminal case signals how closely President Vladimir V. Putin is watching anti-Kremlin activity abroad as Russia pursues its perceived enemies across international borders, including in some cases with poisonings and shootings.
The Russian authorities appear to be particularly concerned with recent moves in Europe. The Council of Europe, an intergovernmental organization that is dedicated to upholding democracy, human rights and the rule of law on the continent, adopted a resolution to create a “platform for dialogue with Russian democratic forces.”
That forum would help exiled Russians engage with Europe on their opposition to the Putin government, as well as on issues faced by the hundreds of thousands of anti-Kremlin exiles abroad. Participants are expected to include those who signed a 2023 declaration by the Russian Antiwar Committee condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In its statement on Tuesday, the F.S.B. referred to the actions of the Council of Europe as setting up an “alternative to power structures” in Russia.
Mr. Khodorkovsky, in a social media post, linked the terrorism accusations to the antiwar committee’s efforts to set up the democracy forum.
The Kremlin sees his committee’s cooperation with the Council of Europe as “a big problem,” he said. “That’s why we have this new investigation into an ‘overthrow of the government’, and lies about ‘recruitment’ or ‘weapons for the Ukrainian army,’” he noted.
Most of the 23 suspects named by the F.S.B. are Russian professionals who have not declared any political ambitions. Some of them once sat on Mr. Putin’s council for human rights or advised the government in an independent capacity before the war.
The Russian Antiwar Committee brings together a wide variety of Russian civil society. Its members include Mikhail M. Kasyanov, Mr. Putin’s first prime minister; Sergei Guriev, who is now dean of the London Business School; and other prominent academics such as the political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann.
The group, which was set up by Mr. Khodorkovsky shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion to “help address the consequences of Putin’s aggression,” has not made any public calls for violence.
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