The Russian Ministry of Justice designated the editor-in-chief of the independent outlet The New Times, Evgenia Alibats, as a foreign agent. In July 2022, Alibats was fined alongside the juridical entity that oversees The New Times for allegedly distributing false information about the Russian armed forces. In July, a court in Moscow fined Alibats 70,000 rubles. The owner of the The New Times, the legal entitity Novye Vremena, was also fined 600,000 rubles. They were accussed of distributing false information (Article 13.15 of the Code of Administrative Ofences). The reason for the charges was the journal’s distribution of news about the war in Ukraine, released before the emergence of the new criminal charge about the distribution of false information about the Russian armed forces (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).
Russia-Ukraine WarCensorship and regulationPublication ban, take-down order or forced deletion, fine, administrative action