Youtuber, political scientist, journalist… In Russia, influential critics classified as “foreign agents”

Among the newcomers, we find especially Youtubeur Yuri Doud, a journalist famous throughout Russia for his interviews and documentaries that deal with sensitive topics such as Stalinist repression or authoritarian excesses in Russia.

In 2020, he interviewed rival Alexei Navalny, now imprisoned in Russia, and his wife Yulia.

A satirist, Sergei Elkin, who is famous for his cartoons mocking Russian power, also joined the list.foreign agent“, as well as an influential liberal political scientist, Ekaterina Shulman.

An investigative journalist, Roman Dobrokhotov, producer of the Russian media The Insider, and an activist for LGBT rights, Karen Chenyan, is also now “foreign agent,

In September 2021, Mr Dobrokhotov confirmed that he had left Russia to avoid prosecution.

On April 12, on Youtube, Ekaterina Schulman, for her part, hinted that she had gone to Germany after receiving a scientific grant in Berlin. Cartoonist Sergei Elkin announced on Facebook on April 13 that he had left Russia.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, dozens of members of the Russian intellectual elite and journalists have left the country, while the power is increasingly mounting its pressure against the ultimate media and critical voices.