MOSCOW, April 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Russia on Thursday declared Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) an "undesirable" organisation, outlawing the HIV treatment and prevention group from operating in the country.

Founded by British pop legend Elton John in 1992, EJAF funds HIV treatment programmes in multiple countries. It also advocates for the LGBTQ community, which has faced years of persecution in Russia.

In a statement, Russia's prosecutor general accused Elton John of "anti-Russian propaganda" and accused EJAF of trying to "discredit traditional values and escalate social tensions".

It said the organisation was "disguised as a humanitarian project" and worked closely with "international institutions that promote the ideas of an economic blockade of our country".

Russian authorities deem any relationship that is not heterosexual to be "non-traditional" and has criminalised what it calls "LGBT propaganda" among adults.

Being declared "undesirable" effectively bans the group from operating in Russia and makes anyone who works for or collaborates with them liable to prosecution.

EJAF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

HIV/AIDS has been described as an epidemic in Russia, with over one million people in the country living with the condition, many in the prison system.

Access to treatment is poor, especially in rural areas, and authorities have done little to counter stigma associated with the virus.

Since launching its offensive in Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has waged an unprecedented crackdown on dissent that rights groups have likened to Soviet-era mass repression.

Among other organisations labelled as "undesirable" in Russia are the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Transparency International and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Elton John is hugely popular in Russia and has performed there more than two dozen times, including eight concerns in the Soviet Union in 1979, in what was then rare for a Western pop singer.