A criminal case on “foreign agent” charges has been initiated against a journalist from Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals.

The Investigative Committee in Yekaterinburg—a major city in the Urals—has launched a criminal case for failing to carry out the “foreign agent” obligations (Part 2, Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code) against local activist and journalist Elena Shukayeva. This was reported by the publication “Vecheriye Vedomosti,” citing an unnamed source.

The case was initiated back in March, but has only now come to light. The journalist, who is currently abroad, stands accused of making a number of posts on Odnoklassniki without the required label indicating her “foreign agent” status.

The Justice Ministry declared Elena Shukayeva a “foreign agent” in September 2022. That same month, she left Russia. Shortly before that, she was arrested for 14 days under an administrative case for displaying extremist symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Offences Code), after reposting the video “He’s Not Dimon to You”.

After the Justice Ministry’s decision, the journalist was repeatedly prosecuted under administrative cases for violating the regulations governing “foreign agent” activities (Article 19.34 of the Administrative Offences Code). “Vecheriye Vedomosti” reports that she was fined under this article in April and September 2024.

Shukayeva herself also commented on the criminal case on her Facebook page: “The criminal case is built on these very ‘admin cases.’ First you get fines, and then they say: ‘since you haven’t corrected yourself, now it’s a criminal case.’ But here’s where the paradox starts. To justify the criminal case, they have to claim that I was all this time in Yekaterinburg breaking the rules. But to try me in absentia, they have to admit the exact opposite—that I’m abroad. In their papers, I’m both here and there. Schrödinger’s cat nervously smokes.”

Elena Shukayeva previously worked with Radio Liberty and other independent outlets. She has also been a freelance contributor to Novaya Gazeta. The activist coordinated the “Last Address” project in Yekaterinburg. In May 2022, due to posts about the war, the journalist was fined five times for “discrediting the Russian army,” totalling 200,000 rubles (approximately US$2,200).