Analysts pointed to a new round of pressure on "Ecological Watch".
The information campaign against the "Ecological Watch for the North Caucasus" has been ongoing for about two weeks and may be linked to the activation of security forces, analysts suggested. At the same time, the case of former "Ecological Watch" member Denis Matveev does not in itself indicate persecution for environmental activities, they believe.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on October 3, the coordinator of the "Ecological Watch for the North Caucasus" Andrey Rudomakha linked the wave of negative publications about the organization to the criminal case against Denis Matveev. Matveev was detained back in August and expelled from "Ecological Watch". On October 1, the FSB department for Krasnodar Krai stated that he confessed to distributing materials of an anti-Russian nature at the request of a pro-Ukrainian terrorist organization.
Denis Matveev is a former member of the "Ecological Watch for the North Caucasus", who was arrested in August 2026. He was charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist organization. According to sources, this refers to the movement "Malinovy Klin – Independent Kuban". After his arrest, Matveev was expelled from "Ecological Watch". Margarita Reutt is a volunteer from Sochi who participated, among other things, in cleaning the beaches of Anapa from fuel oil. On August 13, a bomb hidden in a trash can exploded in a park on Stoletov Avenue in Sevastopol when the deputy commander of a separate submarine brigade of the Black Sea Fleet, Robert Shageev, was passing by; he was killed. After the explosion, Reutt was detained and later arrested on charges of terrorism.
Pressure on the "Ecological Watch for the North Caucasus" in the information space has been ongoing for the last two weeks, reported Krasnodar ecologist Evgeny Vitishko.
"I think, under the influence of the federal security service, I see that attacks are constantly happening in the information field," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
The accusations against Matveev and Reutt are serious, however, the criminal cases themselves are not related to environmental activities, Vitishko pointed out. He noted that Matveev was arrested several months ago and subsequently expelled from the organization.
Evgeny Vitishko does not see signs of fabrication in Matveev's case, although he did not rule out the emergence of new information in the future.
"Denis went down this path, but I have no right to judge him. In fact, he was quite knowledgeable and competent in his field. But his political position and environmental activities are still not interconnected things. And in the case, I do not yet see signs of fabrication. Something may come to light later, but not yet," the ecologist pointed out.
Persecution of environmental activists often intensifies where environmental conflicts are accompanied by mass grassroots protests against dangerous projects, believes ecologist Igor Shkradyuk.
"Even I was attempted to be declared a foreign agent in commissioned resources when I spoke out against such projects. The leaders of the "Ecological Watch for the North Caucasus" chose the path of "harmless ecology" after severe pressure, that is, not to infringe on the interests of large economic entities and not to criticize the authorities," he noted to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
The case of Matveev fits into a broader search for "enemies" and alleged Ukrainian agents, Shkradyuk believes.
"To consider critical articles as working for a terrorist organization can only be in the conditions of a "stick system", when the authorities demand not real security, but formal indicators (sticks in reporting columns)," he explained.
The activation of security structures may be linked to expectations of personnel changes in the leadership of the Federal Security Service, suggested political scientist Sergey Boyko. In his opinion, in such a situation, various departments are interested in demonstrating their effectiveness.
"Therefore, there is an activation of the work of various departments and services to demonstrate their effectiveness. The ecological direction is considered one of the most dangerous, as, according to Russian security forces, such cover is actively used by various Western intelligence services," Boyko explained to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".