On 21 April 2023, the Russian Ministry of Justice desigated as a “foreign agent” Natalia Sevets-Yermolina, an activist, blogger and journalist from Petrozavodsk in Russia’s Karelia region. Sevets-Yermolina, who no longer resides in Russia, received the status for “openly supporting Ukraine, creating a ‘negative attitude towards military service’, and for living abroad”, reported Sever.Realii, a regional news outlet for Northern Russia run by RFE/RL, a U.S. Congress-financed media corporation. Aside from her activities as an activist and blogger in Petrozavodsk, Sevets-Yermolina was also a board member of the Karelian Union of Journalist, a regional branch of the national Russian Union of Journalists. She was set to be removed from the organization following her designation as a “foreign agent”.
Initially adopted in 2012, Russia’s law on foreign agents has been revised several times over the past decade to include an ever-wider range of potential targets for state-sponsored discrimination. Currently, any organization, media or private individual can be designated as such simply by being declared to be “under foreign influence” by the Russian Ministry of Justice or because of receiving funds of any amount from abroad (or from an entity itself receiving foreign funds). “Foreign agents” are also barred from receiving state financing, teaching at state universities, working with minors and providing expertise on environmental issues, among other restrictions.