March 11, 2026

More Undesirables


More Undesirables
UC Berkeley. University of California, Berkeley

The Russian Justice Ministry’s list of “undesirable” organizations continues to grow with each passing month. Two of the newest additions include the University of California Berkeley and the Russian-American Science Association (RASA).

As undesirable organizations, they will be effectively banned from operating in Russia. ​Affiliation with undesirable organizations carries a substantial penalty, and individuals who cooperate or are associated with them may face a fine or up to four years in prison. Organizers of related activities may be sentenced to up to six years.

​The designations were approved by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office in February, but the organizations’ names were only made public on March 3. No official comment has been issued by the Office as to why RASA and UC Berkeley were added.

RASA is a network of Russian-speaking scientists and scholars working in the United States and other countries. It was founded to encourage collaboration, professional development, and scientific exchange between researchers in Russia and the United States. Several individual members of RASA are also labeled as “foreign agents” under Russian law.

One possible incident that may have put UC Berkeley on the list is that it provided refuge for two outspoken Russian scholars and critics of Putin. Ilya Matveyev and Ilya Budraitskis were visiting scholars in Berkeley’s program for Critical Theory and Sociology.

Hundreds of institutions in the United States and internationally are on the Ministry of Justice list. UC Berkeley joins other US institutions like Yale, Bard College, and George Washington University.

​The new designation brings uncertainty to Russian international students and professors who have worked with RASA or Berkeley (or other US institutions on the list). Most have no clear answers about their ability to return to Russia because of their affiliation.

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