Russian Justice Ministry names Radio Liberty project a ‘foreign agent’ media source

The Justice Ministry of the Russian Federation has named Sever.Realii, a regional news project for Russia’s north created by Radio Liberty, as a “foreign agent” media source. The designation follows the formation of a State Duma commission to investigate foreign interference in Russia’s elections. Commission members have publicly accused Radio Liberty and Meduza, among others, of taking part in such interference.

State Duma deputies recommended that Sever.Realii be designated a foreign agent on November 14. Seven other Radio Liberty projects as well as Radio Liberty itself have been registered as foreign agent media sources since 2017. The registry itself was created after the U.S. government forced the Russian state-run television channel RT to register as a foreign agent in the United States.