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In the Moscow region, a court has handed blogger Marat Nikandrov a suspended sentence of eight months. This was reported by “Slovo Zashchite.”

Nikandrov was found guilty of evading the duties of a “foreign agent.”

As reported by SOTAvision, the prosecutor had requested one year suspended.

Nikandrov fully admitted guilt. The case was considered under a special procedure—that is, without examining the evidence.

A criminal case was initiated against the blogger for failing to submit reports on his activities to the Ministry of Justice for the second and third quarters of 2025. Prior to this, he had been fined twice under administrative law for violating “foreign agent” regulations (Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences). One of the charges was related to a circular avatar in his Telegram channel that did not include the “foreign agent” label.

  • Nikandrov was added to the “foreign agent” register in November 2023. At that time, the then 19-year-old blogger said that he had applied for the status himself. According to Nikandrov: “I was just sitting with my friends at a café and just filled out the form for a laugh.”
  • Later, in an interview with “Slovo Zashchite,” he said that he had applied to the Ministry of Justice to be recognised as a “foreign agent” eight times, and on seven occasions was refused. Nikandrov admitted that he did not fully realise the consequences of acquiring this status.
  • “I became a hostage to my own idea of becoming a ‘foreign agent.’ Now, I would not apply for inclusion [on the ‘foreign agent’ list]. When I was listed, the status only entailed five or six restrictions at most, but now you can’t even stand in elections with it, among many other things,” he said after the case was opened.