Activists say the designation could put L.G.B.T.Q. people and their organizations under threat of criminal prosecution for something as simple as displaying the rainbow flag.
Moscow may label the Azov fighters who defended the Mariupol steel plant as terrorists — raising the prospect of a high-profile trial. The Kremlin has a long tradition of using the courts for political goals.
Many soldiers who surrendered from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant belong to the Azov battalion, a group with far-right roots, and the Kremlin may now put them on trial just as Ukraine is prosecuting Russians for war crimes.
The government’s order for hundreds of remaining fighters to stand down offers Russia a propaganda victory, but prospects for a prisoner swap seem unclear at best.