[7] The main building of the museum was a two-story manor that housed a library and a permanent exhibition dedicated to the history of the dissident movement in the USSR, and to the life and works of Andrei Sakharov.

[17] This law has been criticized both in Russia and internationally as representing a violation of human rights and having been designed to counter opposition groups.

[18][19][20] In fact, the court cited the Sakharov Center's political activity as the main reason for designating it as a "foreign agent".

[21] In January 2015, the Tagansky District Court fined the Sakharov Center 300,000 rubles for not voluntarily declaring itself a "foreign agent".

The way out of this state will require a radical change in the basic attitudes of national identity, if at all it will be possible.On January 24, 2023, Moscow authorities notified the Sakharov Center that all rental agreements with the human rights museum and cultural center were terminated, having been designated under the Russian foreign agent law, evicting the museum.