Moscow seeks supreme court ban on Poland-based Russian opposition group

The Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation has filed an administrative lawsuit to recognise the Polish organisation “Congress of People’s Deputies” as a terrorist group and ban its activities in Russia.

The information about the lawsuit, posted on the Russian Ministry of Justice website, states that the case is scheduled for a court hearing on December 8, 2025, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media.

The lawsuit states that the organisation is registered in Poland, operates in Russia, and poses a security threat.

Administrative case No. AKPI25-887s will be considered by the Russian Supreme Court under Part 3 of Article 263 of the Administrative Procedure Code.

The Congress of People’s Deputies is a self-proclaimed “shadow parliament” of exiled Russian opposition, founded in November 2022 in Poland under the leadership of former Duma deputy Ilya Ponomaryov.

It brings together more than 60 former regional and federal lawmakers opposing the Putin regime, and has adopted over 30 legal acts, including a “Constitution of a New Russia” and statutes for a transitional government and resistance movement. 

The Congress describes itself as laying the legislative foundation for a post‑Putin Russia and coordinating with partisan resistance groups; Ponomaryov and Russian authorities, however, sharply disagree on its nature, with the FSB accusing it of plotting a violent coup. 

By Jeyhun Aghazada