The human rights activist of Cherkasov and sociologist Rakshu was recognized as "foreign agents"

The Ministry of Justice was introduced to the register of the so -called foreign agents of human rights activist Alexander Cherkasov, photographer Evgeny Feldman and sociologist Alexei Rakshu.

The list also included the co-founder of the OVD-Info Grigory Okhotin, a former member of the board of the International Memorial Alexander Polivanov, blogger Alex Exler and the Moscow Against Mobilization project.

The agency claims that people and organizations introduced today on the list disseminated inaccurate information about the decisions of the Russian authorities, and also engaged in the spread of materials from other foreign agents.

In addition, Okhotin, Polivanov, Exler and Feldman, according to the Ministry of Justice, opposed the "special military operation" - the war with Ukraine.

Alexander Cherkasov in a conversation with Radio Liberty said that the decision was expected. According to the human rights activist, he plans to coordinate his further steps with lawyers.

Alexei Raksha told RBC that he did not consider the introduction to the register fair and intends to dispute it. “I am not interested in the opinion of the Ministry of Justice about my work,” said Evgeny Feldman in a commentary to RBC.

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 financing and engaged in political activities.

Then the law began to apply to legal entities and individuals - mainly to human rights activists, journalists, activists and see.

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 to tighten punishment for violation of the law on foreign agents. Now, for the first violation, individuals are facing a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles, and such low fines do not provide compliance with the law, the department claims. The Ministry of Justice proposes to introduce criminal liability for such violations.

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