The Russian authorities Friday outlawed Human Rights Watch as an “undesirable organization,” a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense.

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The designation means the international human rights group must stop all work in Russia, and opens those who cooperate with or support the organization to prosecution.

The decision by the Russian prosecutor general’s office is the latest move in an unrelenting crackdown on Kremlin critics, journalists and activists, which has intensified to unprecedented levels since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In a separate statement on Friday, the office said it was opening a case against Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot that would designate the group as an extremist

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