A Moscow court has issued a 30,000 ruble fine to opera singer Maria Maksakova, who is listed as a foreign agent in Russia, for failing to mark posts on social networks as materials produced by a foreign agent. The court’s decision was reported by TASS and confirmed in the official court statement.
The court explained that Maksakova-Igenbergs violated Part 4 of Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, which prohibits the production of materials by a foreign agent without indicating their status when using the Internet. The ruling specifies that the fine was levied for the dissemination of such materials without the necessary disclosure.
The Justice Ministry placed Maksakova on the foreign agents registry in May 2023. Following that designation, she left Russia.
In August, Maksakova commented from Latvia, praising the Latvian artist Laima Vaikule, who is celebrated by some for supporting Ukrainian symbols at a major festival. Maksakova thanked Vaikule for her assistance in fundraising for Ukraine and noted the high quality of the festival’s organization. She also remarked that replicating a similar event in Ukraine would be difficult due to budget constraints.
Earlier reports mentioned that Alla Pugacheva was secretly recording a new album in Russia, a note that had circulated in media coverage prior to Maksakova’s case.