'Erasing history': Russia closes top rights group, capping year of crackdowns

A judge of the Russian Supreme Court delivers the verdict during a hearing to consider the closure of the human rights group International Memorial in Moscow, Russia December 28, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's Supreme Court ordered the country's oldest human rights group to disband on Tuesday for breaking a law requiring it to act as "a foreign agent", capping a year of crackdowns on Kremlin critics unseen since the Soviet era.

The closure of Memorial International bookmarks a year in which Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin's top critic, was jailed, his movement banned and many of his allies forced to flee. Moscow says it is simply enforcing laws to thwart extremism and shield the country from what it says is malign foreign influence.