Many independent journalists in Russia have fled the country over the last year due to new laws introducing harsh media censorship, but news outside of …
Many independent journalists in Russia have fled the country over the last year due to new laws introducing harsh media censorship, but news outside of the veil of the Russian government, including coverage of the war in Ukraine, continues to get through to those who are willing to look for it. Andrey Zakharov, an investigative reporter working for BBC’s Russian-language service, left Russia months before the war on Ukraine began after he was deemed a “foreign agent” in October. Now in Europe, he continues to publish investigative reporting and posts news regularly to a Telegram audience of nearly a quarter million people. “It’s very hard to live in Russia” after being labeled a foreign agent “because you’re always nervous about it,” he told the Daily Caller in an interview. A Russian law was modified to allow journalists to be included on the list in late 2019. Being a “foreign agent” means “putting a very awkward disclaimer” stating the “foreign agent” status on everything one publishes — including social media posts — and “sending a financial report to the Ministry of Justice” every few months, he said. If one forgets, they can get fined. “If you get fined more than two or three times, you can be put into jail,” he continued. Journalists feel like the modification of the “foreign agent” law was Russia “preparing for the war long before the war started,” he said, as it made many independent journalists leave Russia in 2021. Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine Feb.24, Russia has imposed bans on Facebook and Instagram, labeling them “extremist” after parent company Meta allowed for hate speech against Russian soldiers in some countries.
