Russian authorities have added new individuals to its blacklist of “foreign agents”. The list includes editor-in-chief of shuttered radio station Echo of Moscow, Aleksei Venediktov, TV journalist and former lawmaker Aleksandr Nevzorov, journalist and publisher Vladimir Voronov, independent media award RedKollegia co-founder Sergei Parkhomenko, and RFE/RL journalists Artur Asafiev and Yekaterina Lushnikova. While the reason for their addition onto the list was not communicated, it is believed that the journalists’ reporting on, or position on the war in Ukraine, was a key factor. Earlier in April, The Insider founder and editor-in-chief, Roman Dobrokhotov, was also added to the list. Several prominent Russian journalists and media personalities were already already added to the list since the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent crackdown on independent media.
UPDATE: 23 June 2022 – A court in Moscow denied the request of Echo of Moscow editor Aleksei Venediktov to be removed from the list of foreign agents. The editor was placed on said list after receiving funds from the legal entitity “Obrazovanie-21 vek”. According to the authorities, despite the fact that the legal entity was Russian, as it had received foreign financing, Venediktov could be placed on the list of foreign agents.