Russia adds five names and organisations to its foreign-agent registry

Five additions and one removal

Russia’s Justice Ministry has added five people or organisations to its register of so-called foreign agents, according to a September 11 notice reported by Meduza. The additions are television quiz participant Ekaterina Mereminskaya, regional political supporter Elena Matveeva, public and political figure Rinat Mukhametov, the Telegram outlet Kanal vizionera and the Perm-36 project.

The ministry simultaneously removed historian and blogger Yevgeny Ponasenkov from the registry. The paired decisions show that removal remains possible, but the government did not provide a detailed public explanation in the inspected report for the individual additions or the delisting. Claims about motives beyond the published registry action therefore cannot be treated as established facts.

A designation with material consequences

Foreign-agent status in Russia is more than a descriptive label. It entails reporting and disclosure obligations and interacts with restrictions on income, education, public activity and access to financial support. The rules have expanded from their original focus on nongovernmental organisations to cover individuals, media projects and loosely organised initiatives regarded by the state as being under foreign influence.

A United Nations special rapporteur’s report, distributed on September 15, 2025, documented 1,040 listed people and organisations as of July that year and 133 additions during the first part of 2025. It also recorded requirements for special bank accounts, restrictions on educational activity and escalating administrative or criminal cases for alleged noncompliance.

The Russian government has defended the system at UN proceedings as a sovereignty and transparency mechanism, saying that designation does not formally remove a person’s rights and can be revoked. The UN special rapporteur reached a sharply different assessment, finding that the broad framework had become part of a wider system used to suppress dissent, journalism and independent civic activity.

The immediate questions are whether the five newly listed subjects challenge their designations and how the rules affect Perm-36, a project associated with preserving the history of Soviet political repression. Ponasenkov’s removal also warrants monitoring for any published legal or administrative rationale. No usable editorial photograph was verified for this brief; it therefore occupies one permitted coverless slot. The development has no military-alert eligibility.