On 23 September 2022, the Russian Ministry of Justice designated journalist Alexander Kushnar as a “foreign agent”. He was accused by authorities of engaging in “political activities” and of receiving financing from Ukraine. Kushnar is the editor-in-chief of the Youtube news channel Newsader, in the past he also published for the Russian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Originally from the city of Blagoveshchensk in Russia’s Far East, he emigrated to Lithuania following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and has lived there since.
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 7 March 2024, Kushnar was placed on Russia’s ‘wanted’ list and accused in an unspecified “criminal case”, according to Russian independent media who reported on the issue based on information published in a database of Russia’s Ministry of Interior.