Russia has added the names of six more journalists to its list of so-called foreign agents.
The list includes reporters from the BBC, Current Time and the Voice of the America (VOA), which reported the story.
Those named include Ksenia Turkova, who works for VOA’s Russian language service in Washington, Iryna Romaliiska, who works for Current Time, the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty partnership with VOA. Others on the list by Russia include Anastasia Lotareva and Andrey Kozenko, who work for BBC Russian; Alexandra Prokopenko, a journalist and research fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin; and Anton Rubin, a journalist at exiled media outlet Ekho Moskvy.
It means that those declared as ‘foreign agents’ must mark any online content, even personal posts social media on social media, as having come from a foreign agent, and to share financial details. Failure to comply can lead to fines or even imprisonment.
In a statement, VOA director Mike Abramowitz said that VOA and its journalists, by law, provide “a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news around the world.”
“We stand with our journalists who often face repercussions for providing this vital public service and we remain committed to ensuring that audiences can access the vital content that VOA provides,” he said.
