An Australian community group that campaigns against the Kremlin and the invasion of Ukraine has been targeted by politicians aligned with Vladimir Putin, raising the possibility members of the organisation could face big fines or up to six years in jail if they travel to Russia.

The Svoboda Alliance of Australia and New Zealand is a Russian ethnic group that organises public protests and tries to combat Russian language propaganda Down Under.

This year it published a report that labelled the Russian ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky a liar, questioned the true purpose and size of Russia's diplomatic presence in Australia and claimed some new Russian passports were being packed in free plastic supermarket bags from Coles that were normally used for nuts and had the words "may cause allergy".

Last month, the alliance also helped organise a conference at the Australian National University in Canberra, which looked at information warfare and the way Russian diasporas were being mobilised by the Kremlin's intelligence agencies.

The Svoboda Alliance had been aware for some time the Russian government was deeply unhappy with its work.

But on Wednesday evening, a Russian parliament commission on countering foreign interference formally proposed recognising the alliance's activities — and the actions of 29 other organisations from 16 different "unfriendly" countries — as "undesirable".

Some of the groups will also be considered "extremist".

Commission chairman Vasily Piskarev claimed, without evidence, that "all these structures are controlled by authorities from NATO member states and are aimed at undermining our country (Russia) from within".

Source: ABC News