The closing at Russia of the non-governmental organization Greenpeace recommends a very serious blow to environmental protection, appreciates one of its executives, who asks to continue the battle in this country, which is very exposed to climate change.

The prosecution on Friday named Greenpeace “unwanted” in Russia, which brings about its de facto ban. In a particularly strong statement, he accused the non-governmental organization of encouraging the “overthrow” of power and opposing economic programs “beneficial” for the country.

The announcement is part of an increased wave of repression hitting any critical voice in Russia, including in the environmental sector, after the Kremlin launched its military offensive against Ukraine, AFP notes.

Militant environmentalists also fear that the growing needs of Russia’s military-industrial complex will bring additional pollution and risks to the environment.

On Friday, the Russian organization Greenpeace denounced the “absurd” accusations against it and announced its closure to avoid serious prosecution of its members.

“It is a very hard blow against us, but also against all movements for the protection of nature in Russia, because we were an important member of them,” Mikhail Kreidlin, a non-governmental organization worker in Russia since 2001 and an expert on Russian nature protection legislation, told AFP.

The Russian subsidiary of Greenpeace, which was created in 1992, has been active in raising awareness of climate change, protecting animal species and fighting forest fires and severe pollution, which regularly affect the country. It also referred, through the media or through legal channels, to the responsibilities of the authorities for this situation.

According to Michael Kreidlin, Greenpeace did “many things” that “many influential people” did not appreciate at all.

During its existence, the non-governmental organization trained hundreds of Russian volunteers, gathered significant experience and acquired scientific and technical equipment.

Mikhail Kreidlin expressed the hope that all these abilities will be preserved in another form. “Maybe some workers will go to organizations that still exist in Russia, or that we will create (…) a new purely Russian non-governmental organization to work for,” he says.

He also hopes that the volunteers, trained in Russia by Greenpeace, will continue the fight: “We hope that they have been able to develop enough to carry out actions independently,” says Mikhail Kreidlin.