On 7 February 2025, the Russian Ministry of Justice designated three more Russian journalists as “foreign agents”, Russian media reported. These were Valery Panyushkin, Anastasia Golubyeva and Svetlana Osipova.
Panyushkin previously worked for outlets such as Kommersant, Vedomosti and The New Times. He was also in the past the editor-in-chief of online outlet Takiye Dela, which focuses on social issues in Russia. Golubyeva is a correspondent of the Russian service of the BBC, while Osipova worked for investigative outlet Proekt, as well as for the Prague-based media corporation RFE/RL.
All three journalists received the designation for allegedly publishing “false information” on Russian authorities, as well as “fake news” aiming to “create a negative image of the Russian army”. Golubyeva was additionally “accused” of working with a foreign news outlet, Osipova of disseminating content by other “foreign agents”, and Panyushkin of opposing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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.