The list grows longer Meet the 22 activists and journalists Russia just designated as ‘foreign agents’
The Russian Justice Ministry went on a ‘foreign agent’ designation spree on the evening of Wednesday, September 29. The agency blacklisted more than 20 individuals, as well as the independent rights watchdog OVD-Info and the news outlet Mediazona, which was founded by members of Pussy Riot and reports on Russia’s judicial, law enforcement, and penal system. The Justice Ministry’s “foreign-agent media” registry now includes 72 entries. Meduza introduces the list’s latest additions here.
Number 49. Veronika Katkova — human rights defender, activist, and head of the Oryol Regional branch of the election monitoring movement Golos
Number 50. Inna Karezina — head of the Golos movement’s branch in the Moscow Region
Number 51. Lyudmila Kuzmina — human rights defender, Golos coordinator in the Samara Region
Number 52. Polina Kostyleva — former head of Alexey Navalny’s St. Petersburg campaign office, Golos coordinator in St. Petersburg
Number 53. Alexander Lyutov — head of Golos’s Mordovia branch
Number 54. Vladimir Zhilkin — chairman of the human rights movement “People. Pipes. Security.”; Golos coordinator in the Tambov Region; former Open Russia coordinator. (In 2021, Zhilkin ran for the State Duma on Yabloko’s ticket, but lost the election).
Number 55. Vladimir Zhilinsky — Golos coordinator in the Pskov Region
Number 56. Mikhail Tikhonov — Golos coordinator in Tatarstan
Number 57. Sergey Piskunov — head of Golos’s branch in the Kemerovo Region
Number 58. Vitaly Kovin — former head of the Golos’s Perm Krai branch (he left the movement in the summer of 2021)
Number 59. Ekaterina Kiltau — head of Golos’s Altai branch.
Number 60. Arkady Lyubarev — biochemist, jurist, and political scientist. Member of Golos’s federal council; Meduza author.
Number 61. Yuri Gurman — Golos council member
Number 62. Alexander Grezev — chairman of Golos’s branch in the Sverdlovsk Region
Number 63. Artyom Vazhenkov — former Open Russia coordinator; former Golos coordinator in Tver (he left the movement in the summer of 2021). In August 2020, Vazhenkov was arrested in Belarus. The local authorities pressed criminal charges against him for allegedly participating in mass riots. He was released after Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova drew attention to his case.
Number 64. Sofia Ivanova — chairman of Golos’s branch in the Ryazan Region
Number 65. Ilya Pigalkin — Golos coordinator in the Ivanovsk Region
Number 66. Alexey Petrov — historian, political scientist, blogger, regional expert. The editor of the Irkutsk-based news site Glagol. Golos coordinator in the Irkutsk Region.
Number 67. Vladimir Yegorov — Golos coordinator in Moscow
Number 68. Andrey Gusev — chairman of Golos’s Primorsky Krai branch
Number 69. Sergey Smirnov — Editor-in-Chief of Mediazona
Number 70. Pyotr Verzilov — Mediazona publisher and Pussy Riot activist
Number 71. “ZP” LLC — Mediazona’s parent company
Number 72. Zona Prava — a rights organization founded by Pussy Riot to monitor abuses in Russia’s prison system