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The Ministry of Justice has added seven more individuals and one organisation to the ‘foreign agents’ register, according to a statement on the agency’s website. This time, the following have been added to the list:

  • Anastasia Garina, lawyer and executive director of the Memorial Human Rights Centre;
  • Nikolai Bobrinsky, lawyer and former municipal deputy for Moscow’s Ramenki district;
  • Boris Stomakhin, publicist;
  • Alexander Vanyukov, surgeon who initiated the letter demanding that doctors be allowed access to Alexei Navalny in prison;
  • Artur Solomonov, writer and playwright;
  • Alexander Khmelev, founder of the St Petersburg-based community for LGBTQ Christians;
  • Ivan Shukshin, electoral analyst and programmer;
  • Gorbi magazine.

Officials allege that all of them spread false information about decisions of the Russian authorities, and that Gorbi magazine also did so in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church.

11 July Gorbi magazine’s editor-in-chief, Andrei Lipsky, announced the publication of the final issue.

‘Our fascinating intellectual journey together, which lasted 23 issues, has come to an end. It lasted almost two years. And it was cut short. But not because we grew tired, nor bored of each other, nor disillusioned by the values and meanings that brought us together around this magazine. It was simply ended by those who are not inclined towards free journeys.

But life is varied and unpredictable in its manifestations. And the pursuit of truth, of peace and justice, cannot be trampled out.

So let us not despair and say together the motto: “Do what’s right. And it will be… as it should be.” Until we meet again! ,’ Lipsky wrote.

  • In November 2024, publicist Boris Stomakhin was declared wanted. This is likely connected to a case on “disseminating fakes” about the Russian army (Article 207.3 Part 2 of the Criminal Code). Since 2006, Stomakhin has been tried three times over his articles. At first, he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of inciting extremism (Article 280 Part 2 of the Criminal Code) and inciting hatred (Article 282 Part 1) due to articles about the war in Chechnya. In 2012, a year after his release, he faced new charges over articles about events in the North Caucasus. On charges of inciting hatred and justifying terrorism (Article 205.2 Part 1), Stomakhin was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. In 2015, he received a new sentence, increasing the term to seven years. In September 2019, Stomakhin was released and soon left Russia.
  • In November 2024, Ivan Shukshin was declared wanted in connection with a criminal case. According to an official report obtained through the Gosuslugi portal, he was charged with selling drugs online (Article 228.1 Part 2 of the Criminal Code). The programmer suggested the report was inaccurate, since the investigator had told him by phone that the case was related to “elections.” In 2024, during the presidential election, Shukshin wrote about a possible ballot-stuffing of 22 million votes in one of his articles.