The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation has included journalist Andrei Loshak in the register of foreign agents. The updated list is published on website departments on 17 February.
“Loshak participated in the creation and dissemination of materials by foreign agents, disseminated negative information about the decisions made by the state bodies of the Russian Federation and their policies, including the activities of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, spoke out against the special military operation in Ukraine, and also actively interacted with foreign structures” , the Ministry of Justice said in a statement.
Together with him, the historian Andrey Zubov, as well as the Vozrozhdeniye School of Free Public Thought, were included in the register of foreign agents.
Earlier, on February 10, singer Zemfira, politician Dmitry Gudkov, political scientist Abbas Gallyamov, social activists Tatyana Namazbaeva and Anna Rivina, journalists Sergey Aslanyan, Sergey Shpilkin and LGBT community activist Alexandra Kazantseva were included in the list of foreign agents.
According to the law, foreign agents must report such status to their employees and public authorities to which they apply. They are also required to label all the materials they produce.
In addition, foreign agents are prohibited from working in the state or municipal service, including conducting educational and pedagogical activities in relation to minors, being members of election commissions, and organizing public events.
In addition, foreign agents are required to keep accounting and statistical reports, which are annually subject to mandatory audit. They must also submit a report on their activities to the Ministry of Justice every six months and publish it on the Internet.
On December 1, 2022, a law regulating the activities of citizens recognized as foreign agents came into force in Russia. Now the corresponding register will become unified. The order of inclusion in this list has also changed. An individual can be recognized as a foreign agent regardless of his citizenship, and in the case of legal entities, their organizational and legal forms will no longer be taken into account.
