A Russian government-backed foundation allocated funds through intermediaries in an effort to collect information supporting Kremlin narratives and undermine Kyiv’s defense against Moscow’s invasion, Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, has found.
The findings are based in part on a trove of tens of thousands of e-mails and other documents that were obtained by the Danish public broadcaster, DR, and shared with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and other news outlets, including Schemes.
Through those documents and additional reporting, Schemes found that reports were submitted to the Moscow-based Pravfond -- an abbreviation of the Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad -- via intermediaries known as “curators.”
Lavrov’s Kyiv Footprint
Pravfond was created by the Russian Foreign Ministry and Rossotrudnichestvo, a government agency that says its “main mission is to strengthen Russia’s humanitarian influence in the world.” The foundation’s stated goal is to provide legal and other support to Russians abroad when their “rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests” are violated.
However, a broader OCCRP investigation concluded that it works with intelligence operatives, finances Russian propaganda, and builds channels of Kremlin influence.
An agreement reviewed by Schemes indicated that Pravfond was to be funded for at least several years by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is chairman of its board of trustees.
The 'Ukrainian Direction'
Among the materials reviewed by Schemes was a section of a document titled “Ukrainian direction,” which outlined the foundation’s activities in Ukraine and indicated they were overseen from Moscow by at least two coordinators including Yevhen Baklanov, a Ukrainian citizen who has been wanted in Ukraine on suspicion of treason since 2022, the first year of Russia‘s full-scale invasion.
According to the report by a Pravfond curator for Ukraine, lawyers at an organization called the Legal Consultation Center received Ukrainian citizens at its Kyiv offices, while the center prepared reports for Russian authorities on alleged “war crimes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine” and “violations of the rights of Russian-speakers” in Ukraine -- most of whom are not Russian citizens.
Ukrainian and international authorities are compiling growing evidence of possible war crimes committed by Russia and its forces in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023, alleging he is responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Details of the reports produced for Pravfond were scarce, and there was no direct evidence of who prepared them. When contacted by Schemes, several lawyers named in the documents denied cooperating with Pravfond.
Money From Moscow
Documents show that the Legal Consultation Center has been operating in Kyiv since 2015, the year after Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and fomented a war in the eastern region known as the Donbas. It is unclear whether it remains active.
In a report to Moscow on activities in 2022, Baklanov stated that the center had conducted 309 legal consultations throughout the year. Topics included “rules for crossing the border” and “obtaining deferrals from mobilization” -- suggesting that, whoever initiated the conversations, the center advised Ukrainians on actions that could undermine Kyiv’s efforts to defend against the Russian invasion.
Ukraine’s defense against Russia, whose population is much larger, has been hampered by desertion, struggles to mobilize men of conscription age, and the flight of potential soldiers in violation of a bar prohibiting most men aged 23-60 from leaving the country.
Schemes also determined that funding for a network of lawyers and websites in Ukraine was repeatedly requested from Pravfond by the curators. In a 2025 funding request, Baklanov sought more than 3 million rubles ($39,000) for “legal aid for compatriots in Ukraine.”
The trove of documents and a statement from an account held by Baklanov in a Russian bank, which was obtained by Schemes, revealed at least one instance over the past two years in which Baklanov received money from Pravfond. There was no information indicating whether any of that money was ever transferred to the Ukrainian lawyers.
Treason Trial
According to documents reviewed by Schemes, Svitlana Novytska, a Ukrainian lawyer who is not connected to the Legal Information Center, applied to Pravfond directly, seeking a grant “for the defense of Tetyana Kuzmych,” who is charged with treason. Ukraine’s SBU security service alleges that Kuzmich led an agent network run by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Kherson region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces and which Moscow baselessly claims is part of Russia.
Schemes did not see evidence that Novytska received money from Pravfond. Novytska, who was herself detained in a separate treason probe, denied receiving any support when contacted by Schemes. “This is the first time I’m hearing this,” she said.
Websites Promote 'Denazification'
In addition to references to the Legal Information Center and the Kuzmych case, the Pravfond-related material examined by Schemes identifies four websites linked to Ukraine, one of which is called Pravcenter. A report to the Russian Foreign Ministry states that the purpose of such sites is to support the Kremlin’s stated goal of the “denazification” of Ukraine.
The demand for ‘denazification’ stems from Putin’s false assertion that Ukraine is run or dominated by “nazis,” a claim widely seen as part of the Kremlin’s effort to ensure that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government loses power and is replaced by Russia-friendly figures.
In one of his reports to Pravfond, curator Maksym Zelenskiy highlighted a Pravcenter article that republished what it claimed was a report in a Polish media outlet that said Ukrainian refugees in Poland had “convinced people of the need for denazification in Ukraine,” called Ukraine’s government “neo-fascist,” and warned that Ukrainian migration could destabilize the European Union.
While the European Union has imposed sanctions on Pravfond and its leadership for what it says have been anti-Ukrainian subversive activities, the foundation is currently not subject to sanctions from the Ukrainian government. Kyiv hit the organization with sanctions in 2021 for a three-year period, but the measures expired in 2024 and were not extended.
