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On the evening of September 8, Russian journalists took turns conducting solitary pickets against the labeling of independent media outlets as “foreign agents.” The protests took place outside of the Justice Ministry building in Moscow. Police made three arrests, detaining iStories journalists Alesya Marokhovskaya, Irina Dolinina, and Polina Uzhvak.

On the morning of Wednesday, September 8, a graffiti mural depicting imprisoned Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova appeared in a St. Petersburg park. The portrait, which showed Kolesnikova making a heart shape with her hands — one of the symbols of the Belarusian opposition — was accompanied by the words “For our freedom and yours.” Utility workers painted over the mural within a matter of hours. On Monday, September 6, Kolesnikova was handed an 11-year prison sentence on charges of calling for actions that threaten the national security of Belarus, conspiring to seize power illegally, and creating an extremist group. Lawyer Maxim Znak, another prominent member of the Belarusian opposition who was tried alongside Kolesnikova, was sentenced to 10 years behind bars.