Greenpeace to shut down in Russia after being declared 'undesirable organisation'

The Russian branch of environmental groupGreenpeaceon Friday said it would shut down after authorities declared the group an "undesirable organisation", effectively banning it from operating.

In a statement, Russia's Prosecutor General saidGreenpeacehad tried to "interfere in the internal affairs of the state" and was "engaged in anti-Russian propaganda" by calling for sanctions against Moscow.

"We express our categorical disagreement with the decision of the Prosecutor General's Office,"GreenpeaceRussia said in a statement posted on Telegram.

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"This decision makes it illegal for anyGreenpeaceactivity to continue in Russia. Therefore, the Russian branch ofGreenpeaceis forced to close."

The label "undesirable" has been applied to dozens of foreign groups since Moscow began using the classification in 2015, and effectively bans an organisation outright.

Russia previously launched criminal proceedings againstGreenpeaceactivists in 2013 when they attempted to scale an offshore oil rig in the Arctic Ocean belonging to state energy giant Gazprom, to protest against Arctic oil production.

In that incident, Russian security services boarded the group's Dutch-registered boat and took its 30 strong crew into custody, where they were investigated for piracy.

Born out of the anti-nuclear, counterculture movement of the late 1960s,Greenpeaceis one of the largest and most recognisable environmental organisations in the world, operating in over 50 countries.

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