Russia's Justice Ministry on Friday added Novaya Gazeta, one of the country's last independent news outlets, to its register of 'foreign agents,' accusing the publication of spreading false information about Russian authorities and state policy, opposing the war in Ukraine, and publishing and cooperating with other 'foreign agents.'
Alongside the newspaper, the ministry listed the journal Istoricheskaya Ekspertiza, poet and publicist Sergei Leibgard, writer and publisher Felix Sandalov, and Tatiana Tatarinova, a professor of bioinformatics at the University of La Verne in California.
According to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno. Novosti, more than 100 people were added to the list of individuals affiliated with Novaya Gazeta. Among them are Nikolai Rybakov, chairman of the Yabloko party; human rights activist Zoya Svetova; and politician Lev Shlosberg, who was sentenced to 11 years in a penal colony.
Nadezhda Purusenkova, a press secretary for Novaya Gazeta, said the outlet would continue working and would challenge the 'foreign agent' status in court.
Novaya Gazeta is an independent Russian publication founded in 1993. In 2021, its then-editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2023, Muratov was added to the 'foreign agents' register, after which he stepped down and Sergei Sokolov became editor-in-chief. In April 2026, the newsroom was searched for 13 hours, and criminal proceedings were opened against columnist Oleg Roldugin, who was sent to a pretrial detention center.
The Justice Ministry's register currently contains more than 1,200 people and organizations. The ministry typically updates it on Fridays. Inclusion in the register entails significant restrictions on rights; criminal cases are regularly opened in Russia against citizens accused of failing to fulfill 'foreign agent' obligations.