Russian NGO Returns $159,000 Donation From Leonardo DiCaprio After Being Called 'Foreign Agent'

About $159,000 donation from Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, accompanied by other foreign donations, are being returned by the Sakhalin Environment Watch, which is situated in Russia's Far East.

The NGO said it won't take foreign donations because it became part of the NGO "foreign agent" list on Sept. 18.

The list implies "espionage implications" and is usually slammed on groups that are involved in politics and take foreign donations, according to The International Business Times.

"At the general meeting, the majority voted in favor of a decision to send back all the foreign funds that the organization has and to refuse to accept them in the future," said Sakhalin Environment Watch, one of Russia's oldest environmental groups, according to Russia's Tass news agency. "Today's morning these funds worth $159,000 were already sent back to the foundation and the organization has already sent the respective documents to the bank for returning the funds."

DiCaprio had donated the money in July to help the group in its conservation efforts at the Vostochny reserve on the Russian island of Sakhalin, near the Pacific coast, according to Radio Free Europe. This is called "the most productive and undisturbed salmon ecosystem in the world."

Sakhalin Director Dmitry Lisitsyn disputed the foreign agent accusation, saying Monday, "We are appalled by this decision and will appeal it. We have never been involved in any political activity, have never planned to and never will," according to Interfax.

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has a passion to donate for wildlife protection everywhere in the world. In 2010, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that DiCaprio is a "real man" after he gave $1 million to help conserve the Russian tiger population, reports the Telegraph.