On April 7, the Russian Ministry of Justice again updated the register of foreign agents by adding journalist Arkady Babchenko* and the limited liability company Khroniker*, registered by former Vedomosti journalist Vladimir Ruvinsky*. Information about this is published on the department’s website.
The previous time, the list of foreign agents was updated on March 31: then the Ministry of Justice included a well-known Russian musician, the soloist of the group Nogu Svelo! Maxim Pokrovsky*, MP for Novosibirsk Sergey Boyko*, journalist and former chairman of the Union of Journalists of Karelia Georgy Chentemirov*, as well as the project “Greenhouse of Social Technologies”*, the public association “Alliance of Heterosexuals and LGBT for Equality “*, the charity organization “Real Russia”* founded in March 2022 by writer Boris Akunin, economist Sergei Guriev* and ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.
A week earlier, on March 24, the Ministry of Justice had included blogger Ilya Varlamov*, head of the human rights organization Agora** Pavel Chikov*, ex-journalist of the TV channel Dozhd* Bogdan Bakaleyko*, political scientist and journalist Ruslan Aisin*, creator of the occult center “The Path of the Sun” Svetlana Lada-Rus (Peunova)*, as well as the association “Guys Plus/Guys +”*.
Register of Foreign Agents
The notion of “foreign agent” appeared in Russian law after protests in 2012. Initially, it was intended to apply to non-profit organizations (NPOs) engaged in political activities and receiving foreign funding.
However, later such a status began to be given to natural persons, legal persons and unregistered organizations. Persons and organizations registered in the Foreign Agents Register are notably required to label publications, including on social networks, and to report regularly on their work and expenses.
In 2022, the Foreign Agents Act was strengthened: those on the register were banned from teaching and producing information products, organizing public events and joining election commissions. In addition, the criteria for recognition as a foreign agent have changed: if previously the condition for obtaining the status was foreign funding, now the opinion of the Ministry of Justice on “foreign influence” is sufficient.
From the end of 2022, the Ministry of Justice will keep a single register of foreign agents instead of four as before. There are already over 550 individuals and organizations on the list.
- recognized in Russia as a foreign agent
** In 2014, the human rights organization named “Agora” was entered into the register of non-profit foreign agents, and in 2016 it was liquidated by a court decision. Currently, Agora International Human Rights Group operates without constituting a legal entity
