Likes, reposts, comments, Stars: what is risky

For anyone who posts, reposts, reacts or donates on social media and Telegram and lives in Russia, travels there or may return.

The 5-minute minimum

• Most cases are over posts and reposts: administrative reports for 'discrediting the army' (art. 20.3.3 CAO) and 'extremist symbols' (art. 20.3 CAO), criminal cases for 'fakes' (art. 207.3 CC) and 'justifying terrorism' (art. 205.2 CC).
• A comment is as public as a post. People have already been convicted under criminal articles for comments in Telegram channels. In open chats and groups everyone can read, including people who write denunciations.
• According to OVD-Info ('extremist', 'foreign agent'), citing the Supreme Court, a like alone is not grounds for a criminal case. But on VK and Odnoklassniki a like can appear on your page like a repost, and people have been fined for 'Class' likes under anti-war posts. Likes and reactions are visible if your phone is inspected.
• Stars and donations are more dangerous than reactions: they are money transfers. A donation to an organisation designated 'extremist' falls under art. 282.3 CC, to a 'terrorist' one under art. 205.1 CC, whatever the amount. Criminal cases for financing terrorism and treason have been opened over Stars in channels of organisations Russia designates as 'terrorist'.
• Close your profiles to strangers and remove your phone number, workplace and city from them.
• OVD-Info's guide (25.08.2026) sets out the ladder of risk for 'undesirable' organisations: reading, subscribing, commenting and liking (except an 'OK' on Odnoklassniki) are not banned for now. Reposts, links, quotes, interviews, attending events and merchandise count as 'participation': a first offence carries a fine of 5,000–15,000 roubles (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences).
• Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code applies to a second act of 'participation' in an 'undesirable' organisation while you still count as having been punished for the first (up to 4 years), to any donation or fundraising for it, even the first (up to 5 years), and to running it (up to 6 years). Acts committed abroad have been punishable since 2021 (administrative) and 2022 (criminal).
• Memorial: on 9 April 2026 the Supreme Court, sitting in closed session, designated the 'International Public Movement Memorial' 'extremist' and banned its 'structural units'. Mediazona notes that no such legal entity exists, so it is unclear exactly which groups the ban covers.
• OVD-Info: on 4 June 2026 Rosfinmonitoring added the project to its list of extremist organisations, together with Perm-36, Revolt Centre and Memorial groups; no separate court ruling on OVD-Info itself has been reported (Meduza). The project says subscribing to and reading it remain legal, and advises people who live in or travel to Russia not to donate and to delete reposts of and links to its material.
• If you publicly mention an organisation on the 'extremist' or 'terrorist' list, the law requires you to state that it has been dissolved or banned. Without that note an individual faces a fine of 2,000–2,500 roubles (Article 13.15(2) of the Code of Administrative Offences); OVD-Info reports many such cases.

If you are at risk

• A repeat 'discrediting' offence while you are 'considered punished' is criminal (art. 280.3 CC). You are considered punished from the court decision until a year after the fine is paid (art. 4.6 CAO). If you have already been fined, be especially careful during this period.
• How authors are traced: through the phone number in Telegram, Russian email and VK accounts, matching photos and friends, denunciations from pro-war channels. Hide your number and don't link the accounts you speak out from to a Russian number or email. Use only your own SIM cards and documents.
• Don't spread material from organisations designated 'undesirable', 'extremist' or 'terrorist' in any form: a repost, forwarding to a chat, a link, a donation. Reading material is not the same as spreading it, but deliberately searching for material on the extremist list is banned (art. 13.53 CAO).
• Subscribing to a designated organisation's channel is not banned in itself, and according to OVD-Info there have been no cases over a subscription alone. But subscriptions are visible if your phone is inspected, and provocateurs pick their targets among subscribers of anti-war channels.
• Don't discuss the war and politics in group chats with strangers: there are provocateurs there.
• If you have left, remember: cases are opened in absentia too, and pressure can be put on your family in Russia.

What not to do

• Do not repost material from organisations with a status. According to OVD-Info, forwarding material from 'undesirable' organisations in private messages is not banned for now, but such messages show up if your phone is searched, so it is better not to.
• Don't send money or Stars to designated organisations or channels linked to the Ukrainian army. People are prosecuted for this as financing extremism or terrorism and as treason, whatever card or account the transfer came from.
• Don't argue about the war with strangers in comments and private messages: some of them are trying to provoke you.
• Don't put symbols of designated organisations on your avatar, in your profile description or on photos.
• If a case has been opened, a report drawn up or your phone seized, don't delete anything without a lawyer: deletion can be used against you and won't remove what the authorities have already copied.

What traces remain

• Public posts and comments get copied and archived: deleting them does not remove screenshots, saved copies and records in case files.
• Channel admins see reactions, Stars and comments in Telegram; Stars can appear in the list of top senders.
• Social networks keep a history of your actions, and Russian social networks hand it to the authorities on request.

Designations of organisations in this guide: OVD-Info (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre (extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Memorial Political Prisoners Support (extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.

current as of 7 October 2026. More: OVD-Info: avoiding 'extremism' charges: reposts, donations, communities (updated 25.08.2026) (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); First Line: deleting likes and comments on social media (updated 17.07.2025); OVD-Info: the risks of Telegram Stars (updated 24.09.2026) (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); First Department: criminal cases over Telegram Stars (08.04.2026) (foreign agent); OVD-Info: 'discrediting' and 'fakes', lowering the risk (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); First Department: how people are provoked into 'treason' (08.07.2024) (foreign agent); First Line: how to spot a provocateur; First Line: understanding the designations of organisations and media; EFF Surveillance Self-Defense: protecting yourself on social networks (Russian); Criminal Code, Art. 284.1 (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); Mediazona: court designates Memorial 'extremist' (09.04.2026, in Russian) (foreign agent, extremist materials in Belarus); Code of Administrative Offences, Art. 20.33: participation in an 'undesirable' organisation (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); Code of Administrative Offences, Art. 13.15: mentioning a banned organisation without a note (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); OVD-Info: how the 'undesirable organisations' law works (updated 25.08.2026, in Russian) (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Meduza: OVD-Info added to the list of extremist organisations (04.06.2026, in Russian) (foreign agent, undesirable)