George Clooney foundation declared 'undesirable' in Russia

The foundation of US actor George Clooney has been declared an "undesirable organization" in Russia.

"The foundation operates in Hollywood style to discredit Russia," the Prosecutor General's Office in Moscow said on Monday, according to Russian news agencies.

It added that the foundation "supports false patriots who have fled the country, as well as members of banned extremist and terrorist organizations."

The Clooney Foundation for Justice fights against human rights violations. The politically active Hollywood star founded the foundation with his wife, the prominent lawyer Amal Clooney.

In October, the foundation contacted the German Federal Prosecutor's Office regarding alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine. The foundation's experts asserted that reports from victims or their families, as well as photos, videos, and satellite images, provided evidence of war crimes in three cases.

One case involved a missile attack on a tourist destination in the Odessa region in summer 2022, which they said resulted in many civilian deaths and several severe injuries.

A second case claimed that Russian ground troops tortured and executed four men in the then-occupied Kharkiv area between March and September 2022.

A third occurrence identified Russian unit commanders who were allegedly involved in executions, torture, sexual violence and looting during the occupation in the Kiev region in March 2022.

A declaration of an "undesirable organization" in Russia is equivalent to a ban. The Russian law is frequently criticized as not adhering to legal principles, as it is not clear what actions lead to such a classification.

Since the beginning of the war, Russia has declared numerous establishments to be undesirable organizations, including foundations and the internationally respected German Historical Institute.