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Russian journalist and YouTuber Yury Dud is among those who have been added to Russia's much-criticized "foreign agents" registry.
Russian journalist and YouTuber Yury Dud is among those who have been added to Russia's much-criticized "foreign agents" registry.

The Russian Justice Ministry has added several journalists, including some who have collaborated with RFE/RL, and two LGBT rights activists to its registry of foreign agents.

Two prominent journalists -- Yury Dud, who has a popular YouTube channel, and Roman Dobrokhotov, editor in chief of the investigative website The Insider -- are among those added, the ministry said on April 15.

The Insider has already been added to the registry and fined for not labeling its content as produced by a foreign agent. Dobrokhotov has said the website would not mark its materials with the disclaimer because The Insider is registered in Latvia and is not obliged to follow Russian law.

The Justice Ministry on April 15 also added political cartoonist and satirist Sergei Yolkin, whose drawings have been published regularly by RFE/RL, and political analyst Yekaterina Shulman to the registry.

Journalists Karen Shainyan, Aleksei Semyonov, and Kirill Kruglikov were also added. Semyonov and Kruglikov have collaborated with RFE/RL’s Russian Service.

The two LGBT activists are Maria Sabunaeva, head of the Psychological Service of the Russian LGBT Network, and feminist Regina Dzugkoeva.

"The Kremlin's assault on the truth appears increasingly desperate," RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in a statement. "It is clear that the Putin regime is worried about their ability to continue to hide the truth. Despite these designations, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure the Russian people have access to independent information."

The registry now includes 142 entities and citizens. Those on the registry must meet several requirements, including financial reporting and an obligation to label all posts on social media with a disclaimer. Violations are subject to administrative and criminal liability.

The Justice Ministry, in keeping with its usual practice, did not report the reasons for adding the journalists and activists to its list. Many of them have recently spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Dud recently published the documentary film A Man In Time Of War about how Russians in Budapest are helping Ukrainian refugees.

Shulman said this week that she has left for Berlin on a scholarship from a German foundation. Yolkin, who has been known since 1999 for sharp and popular cartoons mocking Russian politics and targeting social problems in Russia and other former Soviet republics, said on April 13 that he is in Bulgaria.

"The future is foggy," he wrote on Facebook.

The logo of Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, which has blocked a number of independent media outlets and publications over their coverage of the war in Ukraine.
The logo of Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, which has blocked a number of independent media outlets and publications over their coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Russia's communications regulator has blocked access to the Russian language website of The Moscow Times and the website of Radio France International (RFI).

The Moscow Times said on April 15 that its Russian-language website was blocked after it published what authorities call a false report on riot police officers refusing to fight in Ukraine.

The publication said Russian Internet providers had already started to block its Russian-language site. It published a notice from Russia's communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, which said its site was now blocked.

RFI also appeared in Roskomnadzor's database of blocked websites. The station's English, French, and Russian-language websites could not be accessed in Moscow, according to the AFP news agency.

The site has featured a series of hard-hitting reports about Russia's invasion of Ukraine this week.

France Medias Monde, a state-owned holding company in charge of French international broadcasting, said it will continue to look for ways to distribute RFI reports in Russia.

"We will continue our work, mobilizing all technical solutions to continue making our content accessible to the Russian people," France Medias Monde chief executive Marie-Christine Saragosse said in a statement.

Russian authorities have blocked a number of independent media outlets and publications in their attempts to control coverage of the country’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, state regulator Roskomnadzor ordered all media outlets to only use data and information provided by Russia's official sources when covering the war. It also directed media outlets to describe events in Ukraine as a "special military operation" and not a war or an invasion.

Several Russian media outlets have chosen to suspend operations rather than face heavy restrictions on what they can report. The Kremlin has also blocked multiple foreign news outlets, including RFE/RL.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

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"Watchdog" is a blog with a singular mission -- to monitor the latest developments concerning human rights, civil society, and press freedom. We'll pay particular attention to reports concerning countries in RFE/RL's broadcast region.

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