The support community of Wikimedia.ru, the Russian version of Wikipedia, will be closed. Stanislav Kozlovsky, general director of the NGO, told socialbites.ca about this. According to him, next Friday, December 22, he may be recognized as a foreign agent, which will complicate the work of the project.
“As I understand it, this information (about possible recognition as a foreign agent – socialbites.ca) was transferred to the rectorate of Moscow State University, where I worked for almost 25 years. I was fired yesterday. More precisely, they offered to resign of their own free will. Then we had a meeting at Wikimedia.ru. We decided that no one needs such risks. We will close the organization,” Kozlovsky said.
He said he did not know what kind of foreign funding the Russian Justice Ministry had discovered. However, it is suggested that the possible status of a foreign representative may be directly related to Wikipedia.
“Probably yes, [это связано с «Википедией»]. Some kind of foreign fund. But I work as an employee of Moscow State University, I go on a business trip to the Baku branch of Moscow State University. Maybe they want to recognize me as a foreign agent of Azerbaijan? I don’t know. In any case, we will close the organization,” said the general director of Wikimedia.ru.
Kozlovsky does not plan to leave Russia if he is recognized as a foreign agent because “he has nowhere to go.”
“I have nowhere to go. I can find some work here. I do science, I am a teacher. As a foreign representative, I cannot give lectures. It is also forbidden to write popular science books. I will think about it,” he concluded.
Previously, Russian Wikipedia employees secretly worked Via Russian Wikipedia.