This bans the activities of the organisation in Russia and puts members and supporters at risk of heavy sentences of up to life imprisonment.

Russia's Supreme Court made the designation following a request from the prosecutor general, his office said in a statement on the Telegram messenger.

The legion was created "to undermine the constitutional foundations of Russia, to the overthrow of power in the country, including by committing terrorist acts," the statement said.

The legion founded at the start of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine is part of the corps of international volunteers fighting alongside Kyiv's forces.

Its emblem features a clenched fist with the words "Russia" and "Freedom".

During an interview in January, its spokesperson who goes by the call-name "Caesar", told AFP journalists that the legion boasts "several hundred" Russians.

Some of its soldiers were fighting in the town of Bakhmut on the eastern frontline, the scene of several months of fierce battles, their spokesman said at the time.