Authorities in several European countries have launched investigations after a joint report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT revealed that a sanctioned Kremlin-backed foundation intended to support Russians living abroad has been used to fund espionage and propaganda.
The Russian state-backed Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad, or Pravfond, has remained active across Europe despite being added to the European Union’s sanctions list in 2023, the report said. The EU sanctioned the organization for being a Russian propaganda disseminator.
“Russia does not sleep, it does not only wage war and aggression against neighbouring countries by brandishing weapons,” Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda said and praised the investigation, emphasizing that the best way to fight people who have been funded by this organization is “to make this information public.”
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas called the foundation’s activities “absolutely unacceptable.”
“Taking money from the institutions of hostile states and organizing an agency network with that money is already an exercise of illegal influence,” he explained.
The country’s criminal police said it is reviewing whether the reporting contains evidence of offenses against the state, while the Financial Crime Investigation Service opened a probe into three lawyers who allegedly received payments from Pravfond through Russian Sberbank accounts.
The Lithuanian BAR Association also launched an investigation into these lawyers for potential ethical breaches and money laundering.
“The data provided [in media reports] is truly surprising and alarming. We were not aware of these facts,” said BAR chairman Mindaugas Kukaitis, adding that a disciplinary committee will assess whether the lawyers violated regulations. “The signs are there, but you need to have evidence and evaluate it,” he said.
In Estonia, the BAR Association opened a supervisory review after reporting by OCCRP’s partner Delfi Estonia showed two local lawyers received Pravfond funding to represent a Russian citizen facing charges related to undermining Estonia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The lawyers are under criminal investigation for possible sanctions evasion. Delfi Estonia’s reporting showed that both were well aware that they accepted funding from a sanctioned and Russian government-controlled entity.
“It is important for the BAR Association that all lawyers strictly comply with both their legal obligations and professional ethics. This includes compliance with international sanctions and appropriate due diligence,” said Imbi Jürgen, the association’s chair.
In Sweden, the newspaper Göteborgs-Posten reported that the headmaster of a Russian school in Gothenburg had participated in a Pravfond conference and hosted the foundation’s former director, who Estonian intelligence identified as an SVR (foreign intelligence) officer. According to the newspaper, the headmaster promoted pro-Kremlin views and barred discussion of the war in Ukraine in the school.
Swedish Minister of Schools Lotta Edholm called the revelations a “sign of systemic error,” saying that “schools should of course be places of knowledge and learning – not extremism and indoctrination.”
“We need to be vigilant about how other countries try to influence Swedish schools and our democracy,” she added. The city’s top official has demanded the school’s license be revoked. The inspectorate said it is looking into the information in an ongoing investigation into the school.
