Russia's Justice Ministry has added several more names to its list of so-called "foreign agents."
Among those added to the "foreign agents" register are renowned literary critic and professor Oleg Lekmanov; politician Nikolai Kavkazsky, a member of the Yabloko opposition party; activist and member of the Free Udmurtia movement Artyom Medvedev; blogger Anton Khardin; and the Astra news outlet.
Lekmanov, a visiting professor at Princeton University, left Russia in February 2022 due to his opposition to Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Kavkazsky is also a human rights and LGBT activist. He has sharply condemned the war in Ukraine and was arrested for six days for an anti-war action. He has been repeatedly attacked because of his political views.
Medvedev, who advocates for the independence of the region of Udmurtia from Russia, has taken part in the events of the Forum of Free States of Post-Russia, which the Russian authorities have classified as an "undesirable organization," and was fined.
Khardin is a popular blogger, with over 127,000 subscribers to his Telegram channel. He opposes the war in Ukraine and has spoken out against political repression in Russia.
Astra is an independent Telegram channel with current news from Russia and the world. It also publishes news that is not published by official Russian media.
The Russian law, introduced in 2012 and expanded in 2022, requires organizations receiving foreign funding to register as "foreign agents," subjecting them to burdensome reporting, auditing, and labeling requirements.
Critics say that the legislation forms part of a systematic campaign to stifle criticism of the government and curtail the work of rights defenders and independent media.
In a landmark ruling this week, the European Court of Human Rights said Russia's "foreign agent" law violated the European Convention on Human Rights, and that it is "arbitrary" and used in an "overly broad and unpredictable way."
The case was brought to the court by 107 plaintiffs, including major media outlets and human rights organizations such as RFE/RL's Russian Service (Radio Svoboda) and the Memorial human rights group.
The court ruled on October 22 that the law imposed "severe restrictions" on the plaintiffs’ activities and found that their designation as "foreign agents" amounted to "intimidation."