Ministry of Justice of Russia updated There were six people on the list of foreign agents. Between them:
– Oleg Orlov, former chairman of the board of directors of the human rights center “Memorial” (the institution is included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice);
— Deputy of Novosibirsk City Council Anton Kartavin;
– Stanislav Kozlovsky, director of Wikimedia.ru, who was involved in the development of Wikipedia in Russia;
— Candidate of Historical Sciences, Former Deputy Scientific Director of the Yeltsin Central Museum Nikita Sokolov;
– photographer and LGBT (“International LGBT People’s Movement” is considered extremist and is banned on the territory of the Russian Federation) – activist Mikhail Chimarov;
— Tambov journalist Sergei Stepanov.
The reasons for inclusion in the registry, as stated by the ministry, included the dissemination of false information about the decisions of Russian authorities, the participation of foreign agents in the creation of materials, opposition to the military operation in Ukraine and other reasons.
Novosibirsk Deputy Anton Kartavin stated He said RBC’s reasons for including him in the registry of foreign agents were quite ridiculous.
“In the opinion of the Ministry of Justice, I spread false information regarding decisions taken by public authorities. If you open my Telegram channel, there are all the articles about the life and problems of Novosibirsk that every Novosibirsk resident knows. “Apparently, from the perspective of the Ministry of Justice, these issues are unreliable,” the politician added.
Kartavin is the current deputy of the Novosibirsk City Council. In 2023, his page on VKontakte was blocked due to posts containing information about the activities of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as an extremist organization performing the functions of a foreign agent and included in the register of banned organizations). Russia).
According to Kartavin, what really matters to him is the support of the people. “The Ministry of Justice will change, but Novosibirsk and the people of Novosibirsk will remain,” he said.
Stanislav Kozlovsky, who heads the non-profit organization Wikimedia.ru, plans to appeal the ministry’s decision.
“I did not interact with undesirable organizations. If he gave any interviews to the media, it took a long time for them to be considered undesirable media,” Kozlovsky explained.
In December 2023, Kozlovsky announced that Wikimedia.ru was ceasing its work, as he would soon be recognized as a foreign agent. He was informed about this by the dean’s office of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University. At the same meeting, he was asked to resign of his own volition, and he did so. According to him, the process of liquidating Wikimedia.ru will take several months.
Oleg Orlov and Memorial activists
Oleg Orlov, a member of the board of directors of the Memorial human rights center, was included in the list of foreign agents for opposing the SVO and spreading false information about the decisions and policies of the current government. The Ministry of Justice also announced that Orlov participated in the creation of materials by foreign agents and was also the head of an organization currently included in the registry.
In October 2023, the Moscow Golovinsky District Court fined Orlov 150 thousand rubles under a criminal article for discrediting the RF Armed Forces. how before that registered In the press service of the courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow, the human rights activist was tried twice under a similar article of the administrative code.
Nikita Sokolov, Mikhail Chimarov and Sergei Stepanov, also featured in the recording, are Memorial activists. Sokolov is a historian; Until June 2022, he worked as deputy director of science at the Yeltsin Central Museum.
Mikhail Chimarov became the first foreign agent in Russia to receive this status for “LGBT propaganda”. He has yet to comment on his inclusion on the registry.
Tambov journalist Sergei Stepanov supported Alexei Navalny. He was detained and arrested for organizing an unauthorized rally in 2021. In 2022, the Tambov Oktyabrsky Court fined Stepanov 40 thousand rubles for discrediting the RF Armed Forces due to a post on VKontakte. Since August 2023, his page on this social network has been blocked at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Judging by his Facebook page (the owner of the company Meta is known as an extremist in Russia and is banned), Stepanov left Russia and now lives in Europe.