On 25 September 2024, Russian media reported that a court in Moscow registered cases against journalists Ekaterina Vinokurova and Vladimir Dergachev, who were accused of not respecting the obligations bestowed upon them as “foreign agents”. If found guilty, Vinokurova and Dergachev could be fined up to 30 thousand rubles. The two journalists previously managed Telegram channel BRIEF, which had more than 500 thousand subscribers prior to its designation as a “foreign agent” on August 16.
Russia’s Ministry of Justice based the “foreign agent” designation on the fact that BRIEF allegedly spread “fake news” about Russian authorities as well as “fake news” aiming to create “a negative image of the Russian army”. While Vinokurova and Dergachev were not formally designated as “foreign agents”, the Ministry of Justice listed them as those responsible for managing BRIEF.
Soon after its designation as a “foreign agent”, BRIEF was shut down by its founders. All previous messages on the channel except for an announcement on its designation as a “foreign agent” were deleted.
Vinokurova and Dergachev commented on BRIEF’s new status on their respective personal Telegram channels, with Vinokurova claiming that the decision by authorities was a reaction to BRIEF’s reporting on Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, while Dergachev said that he had “never discredited the Russian army”.
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.
UPDATE: On 19 October 2024, Russian independent media reported that Russian courts had registered two more cases against Vinokurova for not fulfilling her obligations as a “foreign agent”.