On 21 February 2025, Russia’s Ministry of Justice designated journalist Ilya Azar as a “foreign agent”, claiming that he had opposed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reposted publications by other “foreign agents”, disseminated “fake news” about the decisions and policies of Russian authorities, “created a negative image of the Russian army” and worked for an “undesirable organization”.
In exile since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Azar is a regular correspondent of Novaya Gazeta Europe, an independent Russian news outlet based abroad since 2022.
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.