On 31 October 2024, Russian independent media reported that authorities had opened a criminal case against exiled journalist Natalia Sevets-Yarmolina, for what was considered to be repeated violations of Russia’s laws on “foreign agents”. Sevets-Yarmolina, who lives in exile since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, was designated as a “foreign agent” in April 2023 and has since been fined in Russia for not adding compulsory disclaimers on her status to her social media publications.
Soon after opening the criminal case against Sevets-Yarmolina, authorities also placed the journalist on Russia’s ‘wanted’ list.
Natalia Sevets-Yermolina is an activist, blogger and journalist from Petrozavodsk in Russia’s Karelia region. Sevets-Yermolina received the “foreign agent” status from Russia’s Ministry of Justice for “openly supporting Ukraine, creating a ‘negative attitude towards military service’, and for living abroad”, reported at the time 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 Journalists, 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.