Russian singer-songwriter Semyon Slepakov, journalist Pavel Kanygin, and media outlet Agentstvo added to ‘foreign agents’ list

Russian singer-songwriter Semyon Slepakov, journalist Pavel Kanygin, and media outlet Agentstvo have been added to the “foreign agents” list by Russia’s Ministry of Justice, as per the ministry’s website.

Furthermore, journalist Igor Yakovenko, cartoonist Pavel Muntyan, media outlet Poligon, the Moscow Carnegie Centre, and Rainbow Association have been included in the list.

According to the ministry, Semyon Slepakov “received support from foreign sources”, spoke out against the war in Ukraine, “formed a negative outlook towards military service and public service in general”, and “made negative statements about Russian citizens”.

Journalist Pavel Kanygin, according to the press release, “shared messages and materials created by ‘foreign agents’ and an ‘undesirable’ organisation”, “discredited” Russia’s Armed Forces, and spoke out against the war in Ukraine.

Last Friday, the Justice Ministry added Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko to the list of “foreign agents”. According to the statement by the Justice Ministry, Babchenko was included in the list due to his having collected money to support Ukraine’s Armed Forces and shared “false information about the decisions made by public authorities and the policies being carried out by them”.