Foreign agent Friday: Christo Grozev, Elvira Vikhareva

Russia’s Ministry of Justice had made its weekly additions to the list of “foreign agents”, the new entries including Christo Grozev of Bellingcat, a human rights group Net Prizyvu, and AdvStreet, a media project focusing on the lawyers’ environment. The updates were posted on the agency’s website.

In addition, the list includes feminist activist and journalist Natalya Sevets-Yermolina, as well as politician and former candidate for the State Duma Elvira Vikhareva.

Bellingcat is a group that investigates, among other things, the crimes of the Russian authorities. For example, in December 2020, journalists from Bellingcat, The Insider, CNN and Der Spiegel reported that eight FSB operatives could be involved in the poisoning of Alexey Navalny. After that, the politician published a recording of a telephone conversation with one of the FSB men. During the conversation, the security operative admitted that he had participated in the operation to poison Navalny.

Grozev was added to the list for “spreading false information regarding the decisions and policies of the authorities” and for participating in an “undesired” organisation. Bellingcat was declared “undesired” in July 2022.

The Lefortovo court in Moscow issued an arrest warrant for Christo Grozev earlier today for illegally crossing the Russian border.

Net Prizyvu, also known as The Draftee’s School (Школа призывника), provides people subject to mandatory military service or mobilisation with legal assistance. The Ministry of Justice believes the organisation had also been “spreading false information regarding the decisions and policies of the authorities”.

AdvStreet (Адвокатская улица) is a project that covers the news from within the lawyers’ community in Russia, including oppression against Russian lawyers.