The Ministry of Justice has again added to the register of “foreign agents”. Information about this appeared on the department's website.
Six people were included in the updated list:
- Valeria Ratnikova - journalist, correspondent for the Dozhd TV channel;
- Sarkis Darbinyan - lawyer, co-founder of the Roskomsvoboda project;
- Alexander Ryklin - journalist, former editor-in-chief of "Daily Journal";
- Alexander Baunov - journalist, former diplomat, senior fellow at the Carnegie Berlin Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies;
- Oleg Kuvaev is an animator, the author of the series “Masyanya”, in which several episodes were published criticizing the war and the government of the Russian Federation. against Kuvaev According to unconfirmed reports, a criminal case was opened for calls for activities directed against the security of the state (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code);
- Andrey Kuraev is a theologian, philosopher, former protodeacon who criticizes the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2020, Patriarch Kirill banned Kuraev from ministry, and in April 2023 he was officially defrocked .
In addition, the Ministry of Justice recognized three organizations as “foreign agents”:
- The publication “ We Can Explain ” is an independent telegram channel that publishes news and interviews on political topics, has more than 480 thousand subscribers;
- The publication “ Vorstka Media ” is a socio-political publication that arose after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Publishes news and investigations;
- LLC VOBNIAR is a legal entity of Marat Nikandrov, who previously denounced himself as a “foreign agent”; in his own words , he did it “for fun.” In November, the Ministry of Justice added it to the register.
The department explained its decision by saying that these individuals and organizations, among other things, participated in the creation and distribution of materials by “foreign agents,” opposed the war in Ukraine, formed a negative image of the Russian army and criticized the Russian authorities.
- The legislation on “foreign agents” is becoming stricter every year. On December 1, 2022, the law “On control over the activities of persons under foreign influence” came into force, as well as numerous legislative amendments to “foreign agency” regulation. You can read about the list of “affiliated persons”, new registers and other innovations in the law on “foreign agents” in the analysis of OVD-Info .
- In addition, Vladimir Putin signed a law on imprisonment for a term of up to five years for “foreign agents” who were brought to justice twice in a year for violating the procedure for the activities of a “foreign agent” (Article 19.34 of the Administrative Code).
- In the fall of 2021, OVD-Info launched the Inoteka project . We explore the practice of applying laws on “foreign agents”, talk about their impact on civil society and specific people, initiate discussions with experts and suggest ways of possible changes. In December 2021, together with the Center for the Protection of Media Rights, we began to provide legal support to people and organizations that were included in the registers of “foreign agents.”