On 13 June 2024, Russian media reported that journalist Alexander Makashenets had been placed on the country’s ‘wanted’ list and was being pursued by authorities on unknown criminal charges. The decision came after Makashenets was designated as a “foreign agent” in February 2023. At the time, Russia’s Ministry of Justice had accused him of being against the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, of disseminating materials created by other foreign agents and of distributing false information about Russia’s Ministry of Defence, as well as allegedly lobbying for sanctions against Russian citizens.
Makashenets works as the host in programs broadcast by the Youtube channel Popular Politics (“Popularnaya Politika”), a news channel run by members of the late Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK).
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.