On 7 November 2025, the Russian Ministry of Justice designated journalist Alexander Pichugin as well as Cherta Media as “foreign agents”.
Authorities claimed that Cherta Media opposed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, “spread false information about the Russian authorities, and participated in disseminating content from foreign agents and undesirable organizations.”
As for Pichugin, he was accused of “disseminating content (produced by other) foreign agents and undesirable organizations, as well as fake news about the Russian government and fake news aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian military.”
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 barred from receiving state financing, teaching at state universities, working with minors and providing expertise on environmental issues, among multiple other restrictions.