Russia targets teachers, British Council, and LGBTQ+ movement in latest authoritarian crackdown

In a renewed assault on civil society, education, and LGBTQ+ rights, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused the British Council — the UK’s cultural and educational institution — of operating as a front for British intelligence and promoting what it labels the “LGBT movement,” now criminalized under Russian law.

According to a statement released Thursday by the FSB, teachers from top universities across four Russian regions were identified as having “collaborated with the British side to the detriment of Russia’s national security.” The accusation, which was amplified by Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office, includes claims that the British Council systematically promotes LGBTQ+ rights, engages in “youth policy manipulation,” and undermines traditional Russian values.

Declared “undesirable” under legislation often used to suppress dissent and foreign collaboration, the British Council joins a growing list of international NGOs banned from operating in Russia. The Council — which had ceased activities in the country in 2018 — was accused of “actively supporting the LGBT movement,” a statement widely seen as a continuation of the Kremlin’s campaign to erase queer visibility and suppress any perceived Western influence.

 The Council, known globally for administering the IELTS English-language exams and fostering cultural diplomacy, has played no active role in Russia since it was forced out by the Kremlin in 2018. Nonetheless, the FSB claimed that British intelligence has used it to recruit a “global network of agents of influence,” and to gather intelligence from Ukrainian refugees — further entangling humanitarian support with military paranoia.

Analysts warn that the accusations are part of a broader trend. Russia’s authoritarian regime increasingly views education, youth, and queerness as threats. The intersection of academia, foreign cooperation, and LGBTQ+ rights is being deliberately framed as subversive — a strategy aimed at silencing resistance while fueling domestic nationalism.

With diplomatic relations between Moscow and London at historic lows, and the UK dubbed “enemy number one” by the Russian state, the attack on the British Council serves both as an internal propaganda tool and a message to the international community: foreign values — especially queer ones — are not welcome.

LGBTQ+ people in Russia, already facing increased criminalization and near-total erasure from public life, are once again being used as rhetorical fodder in geopolitical conflict. Cultural and educational ties once seen as bridges between peoples are now weaponized in a campaign of repression.

As of publication, the British Council has not commented on the designation. British intelligence and the Foreign Office have also remained silent.

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