The Ministry of Justice recognized the head of the International Memorial, Yan Rachinsky, and historian Yuri Pivovarov as foreign agents.

A total of seven people were included in the list.

The Russian Ministry of Justice included human rights activist, head of International Memorial Yan Rachinsky and historian Yuri Pivovarov in the register of foreign agents .

In addition, the list also included lawyer Igor Slabykh, poet and artist Alexander Smirnov (Delfinov), Ukrainian journalist and former NTV employee Alexey Sukhanov, journalist Andrey Korolev, economist and political scientist Dmitry Nekrasov.

According to the Ministry of Justice, those included in the list of foreign agents today disseminated false information about the policies of the Russian authorities, opposed the “special military operation,” and distributed materials from other foreign agents and undesirable organizations.

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Legislation on foreign agents in Russia is becoming stricter

The concept of “foreign agent” appeared in Russian legislation in 2012. At first, the status was assigned only to non-profit organizations that received foreign funding and were engaged in political activities.

Then the law began to be applied to legal entities and individuals - mainly to human rights defenders, journalists, activists and media outlets.

All recognized foreign agents are required to regularly report to the Ministry of Justice on their activities and expenses, as well as to accompany any publications, including on personal social networks, with special markings.

In April 2025, the State Duma approved a package of laws that expanded the grounds for assigning the status of a foreign agent.

On May 19, the Ministry of Justice proposed toughening penalties for violating the law on foreign agents. Now, for the first violation, individuals face a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles. Deputy Minister Oleg Sviridenko said that such low fines do not ensure compliance with the law. The agency, he said, proposes to introduce criminal liability for such violations.

Last week, “Verstka” wrote that the list of foreign agents included, among others, the author of the telegram channel about the events of church life “Orthodoxy and Zombies,” Ksenia Luchenko, and the author of satirical songs and poems, Dmitry Purkin, known as “Grandfather Archimedes.”

Photo: Jan Rachinsky, February 24, 2025. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova

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