Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Article 280 punishes public calls to extremist activity: up to four years under Part 1 and up to five under Part 2, which covers calls made through the media or the internet. "Extremist activity" is defined by the 2002 Law on Countering Extremism in a list that has grown to include, among other things, "obstructing the lawful activity of state bodies" and "public justification" of extremism, so the boundary of the offence is set by the list rather than by any notion of violence.

In the documented cases the "call" is usually a post or a comment: a suggestion that people should protest, a sharp remark about the police or the government, a reposted slogan. Since 2022 the article has been co-charged with Article 207.3 or 205.2 to lengthen sentences for antiwar speech, and it is used on its own against people whose comments do not fit the war-censorship statutes. Convictions carry the same registry listing and account freeze as terrorism offences.