Prigozhin associate calls on Russian authorities to declare Mediazona editor-in-chief a ‘foreign agent’

The president of the Foundation for National Values Protection, an organization reportedly linked to Russian oligarch Evgeny Prigozhin, has requested that the Russian authorities designate Mediazona editor-in-chief Sergey Smirnov as a “foreign agent.”

Citing a copy of a letter addressed to the State Duma Commission on the Investigation of Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs, Novaya Gazeta reported that in addition to asking the authorities to declare Mediazona a “foreign agent,” the foundation’s appeal included a separate request for conferring this status onto Smirnov.

Foundation for National Values Protection president Maxim Shugaley — who signed the appeal — shared the copy of the letter with Novaya Gazeta himself.

The letter argues that Smirnov should be declared a “foreign agent” because he conducts journalism seminars in the Russian regions, was jailed for a retweet in February 2021, and allegedly “posted more than 50 video and photographic materials about events in support of A. Navalny on Mediazona’s platforms and on [his] Telegram channel.” The appeal also states that Smirnov previously headed the Moscow branch of the National Bolshevik Party, which is recognized as an “extremist” group in Russia.

“If I’m wrong and in our appeal regarding Mediazona they don’t find grounds for including this online publication and Sergey Smirnov in the register of organizations and individuals performing the functions of foreign agents, I myself will be the first to publicly apologize. The founders of the publication can present their arguments and prove that this is not so,” Shugaley told Novaya Gazeta.

Reports that the Foundation for National Values Protection had called on the Russian authorities to recognize Mediazona as a “foreign agent” first emerged on June 15. That same day, the State Duma Commission on the Investigation of Foreign Interference announced that it had received information about Mediazona’s alleged foreign financing and passed it to the “competent authorities.”

• The Russian Justice Ministry declared Meduza a “foreign agent” in April, along with the organization First Anti-Corruption Media. This designation cost Meduza nearly all of its advertising revenue and forced it launch a crowdfunding campaign.
• In May, this status was handed down to the business news outlet VTimes, which subsequently announced that it was shutting down because the “foreign agent” label had destroyed its business model and damaged its relationship with newsmakers.