Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, hundreds of journalists have been forced into exile, where they continue to face transnational legal persecution. At home, laws make independent reporting increasingly difficult.
This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 11 February 2025.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its media has experienced an unprecedented crackdown. Hundreds of journalists have been forced into exile, where they continue to face transnational legal persecution, and their families have been harassed back home. Meanwhile, reporting from inside Russia has become increasingly difficult, with journalists and media outlets often silenced by laws criminalizing independent coverage.
Since February 24, 2022, CPJ has documented:
- 247 journalists and media outlets branded “foreign agents.”
- 21 media outlets banned as “undesirable.”
- 6 exiled journalists sentenced to jail in absentia.
- More than 18,500 websites blocked in connection with war reporting.
- 22 journalists imprisoned: 11 Russian, 9 Ukrainian, and 2 American.
- Charges against those jailed: 7 for “fake” news; 4 for extremism; 4 for terrorism; 1 for cooperation with a foreign agent organization; 1 for espionage; 1 for participating in an illegal armed group; 1 for illegally handling explosives; 3 undisclosed.
Source: CPJ, OVD-Info
(Editor’s note: These numbers are being updated periodically)
‘Foreign agent’ sanctions
Since 2017, Russian authorities have designated hundreds of media outlets and journalists as foreign agents, requiring them to regularly submit detailed reports of their activities and expenses to authorities and to list their designation on published content. Failure to comply can result in fines, prosecution, and up to two years in jail.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs regularly adds journalists with outstanding foreign agent fines to its wanted list for people sought on criminal charges, meaning they could be held in pretrial detention if they traveled to Russia or a country that might extradite them to Russia.
December 2024
- Exiled blogger Yury Dud fined 45,000 rubles (US$449) on December 27 for failing to list his designation.
- Criminal foreign agent case opened against Sergey Smirnov, exiled editor-in-chief of independent news outlet Mediazona, for failing to comply with the law.
- Criminal foreign agent case opened against Dmitry Kolezev, exiled former editor-in-chief of independent media outlet Republic, already sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison in absentia on charges of spreading fake news about the army.
- Seyran Ibrahimov, founder of Crimean Tatar newspaper Qirim, and editor-in-chief Bekir Mamutov fined a total of 44,000 rubles (US$438) on December 23 for failing to list the foreign agent designation of two outlets named in a report. Six fines were imposed on Ibrahimov and Mamutov over Qirim’s work in 2024, an anonymous representative with human rights group Crimean Solidarity told CPJ.
- Arrest warrant issued for Tatyana Felgenhauer, exiled producer and anchor for Mediazona YouTube channel, on December 20 for failing to list her designation.
- Criminal foreign agent case opened against Alesya Marokhovskaya, exiled editor-in-chief of investigative site IStories, for failing to provide mandatory reports to the Ministry of Justice. Her parents’ home in the far eastern city of Magadan was searched on December 5.
- Exiled journalists Maxim Trudolyubov, Andrey Malgin, and Ayder Muzhsabaev fined 45,000 rubles (US$449) each on December 4 for failing to list their designation.
November 2024
- Exiled journalist Ilya Davlyatchin, with the media project Mozhem Obyasnit, twice fined a total of 60,000 rubles (US$598) on November 29 for failing to submit information about a foreign agent to an authorized body. Under a Russia-Belarus treaty, Davlyatchin was also added to Russia’s wanted list on November 25 after Belarus charged him with “facilitating extremist activity” by appearing on independent Poland-based Belsat TV, for which the penalty is up to seven years in jail.
- Exiled journalist Kirill Nabutov, who runs YouTube channel Nabutovy, fined 30,000 rubles (US$299) on November 28 for failing to register as a foreign agent.
- Criminal case opened against exiled blogger Ilya Varlamov on November 25 for failing to list his designation.
- Exiled Mediazona journalist Alla Konstantinova fined 30,000 rubles (US$290) on November 23 for failing to submit a report on her activities.
- Journalist Alena Sadovskaya removed on November 13 from reporting on a court hearing for the foreign agent media outlet Caucasian Knot on the grounds her work could “negatively affect” the case.
- Exiled Mediazona editor-in-chief Sergey Smirnov, fined 50,000 rubles (US$483) on November 12 for failing to list his designation. Smirnov was previously fined four times, totaling 230,000 rubles (US$ 2,220), for failing to include both his and Mediazona’s listing on their content.
October 2024
- Exiled blogger and journalist Natalia Sevets-Ermolina added to the wanted list on October 31 for failing to list her designation.
- Exiled blogger and former journalist with exiled broadcaster Dozhd TV (TV Rain), Ilya Shepelin, fined 40,000 rubles (US$386) on October 15 for failing to list his designation.
- Exiled journalist Mikhail Rubin of the investigative news outlet Proekt fined 40,000 rubles (US$386) on October 11 for violation of the procedure for the activities of a foreign agent.
- Exiled foreign agent Natalya Baranova, who runs the Telegram channel “Experiencing activism,” learned she was added to the wanted list on or before September 24.
‘Undesirable’ organizations
Since 2021, numerous media outlets have been labeled undesirable, which means they are banned from operating in Russia. Anyone who participates in or works to organize the activities of such outlets faces up to six years in prison. It is also a crime to distribute the organizations’ content or donate to them.
A key target is the Latvia-based news site Meduza, which was blocked in Russia following its condemnation of the Ukraine war. The popular outlet is also listed as a foreign agent. Meduza’s CEO Galina Timchenko won CPJ’s 2022 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award.
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Sentenced to jail in absentia
Exiled journalists sentenced to jail in absentia would immediately be arrested if they traveled to Russia or a country that could extradite them to Russia.
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Legal action against international journalists
Russian courts issued arrest warrants in absentia for at least seven foreign journalists, previously charged with crossing into Russia’s Kursk region without permission as Ukrainian troops advanced on August 6, 2024. The penalty for illegal border crossings is up to five years in jail.
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Denied international media accreditation
Since Ukraine’s full-scale invasion, Russia has revoked or failed to renew the media accreditation of at least seven international journalists:
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