Russia condemns independent journalists for anti-war publications. Authorities in the Kremlin have put the names of well-known journalists on the list of “foreign agents” for publishing reliable information about the activities of the Russian army in Ukraine.
An independent journalist who, according to investigators, “discredited the army” has been arrested, and one of the Russian commercial banks wants to remove the founder’s name from the name because he criticized Vladimir Putin’s military policy.
The list of “foreign agents” includes, in particular, the former head of the liquidated radio “Echo of Moscow” Alexei Venedikotov, columnists Alexander Nevzorov and Vladimir Kara-Murza. The latter was arrested for statements that investigators considered “discrediting the Russian army” and faces up to 15 years in prison. One of the largest Russian commercial banks announced that it intends to remove the name of the founder from the name. The other day, oligarch Oleg Tinkov called the actions of the Russian army on Ukrainian territory “madness”, and the army itself “shit”. The businessman also criticized the Kremlin for its tolerant attitude towards nepotism, corruption and clerical cuteness.
An ever-longer list of “agents”
Previously, the list of so-called foreign agents prepared by the Russian Ministry of Justice included, in particular, Viktor Senderovich, a satirist and columnist for the daily newspaper Novoye Vremya, and incl. journalist Elena Vladykina, head of the Sievier.Realii (Northern Realii) project under the auspices of Radio Liberty and editor of the Radio Liberty website Ivan Belyaev.
In December 2021, Taisiya Bekbulatova, editor of the Kholod magazine, and Andrey Alekseev, film producer and founder of the Neft cinema club in Yaroslavl, were also added to the list of the Ministry of Justice. Among the new “foreign agents” were female singers from the group Pussy Riot – Nadya Tolokonnikova and Veronika Nikulshina, as well as Marat Gelman. He is a political strategist, he sat in the Public Chamber and founded the Perm Museum of Modern Art. For a long time he was a supporter of Vladimir Putin and advised Viktor Yanukovych during the Orange Revolution, but over time he began to criticize the authorities, for which he was punished – removed from the post of director of the museum he created himself.