'This is not emigration, this is exile': half of Russians recognized as 'foreign agents' left the country

Almost half of the Russians, recognized by the country's authorities as the media, performing the function of a foreign agent, have chosen the path of emigration, reports with the BBC.

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The Ministry of Justice opened a list of people recognized in Russia as “foreign media performing the functions of foreign agents” on December 28, 2020. The last time new names were added to it was December 30 last year.

During this time, a total of 75 Russian citizens were added to the list. At least 32 people from this list have gone abroad or are “sitting on their suitcases”: they have bought tickets or are applying for visas.

Thus, 43% of all “foreign agents” chose the path of emigration. Or, as some of them prefer to say, “exiles.”

Another 14 “foreign agents”, who were under pressure before, left Russia even before being included in the list. But only one of them is going to return this year.

Forced emigration

The Ministry of Justice found “foreign media agents” throughout Russia. The list includes 32 Muscovites, 13 St. Petersburg residents, five residents of Kazan, as well as natives of Vladivostok, Samara, Pskov and 16 other cities.

The majority of the list (41 out of 75 people) are Russian journalists. Almost half of them eventually had to leave Russia.

One of them, journalist Maxim Glikin, says that he received an Israeli passport almost two years ago - largely because he anticipated a political winter, and in general he had long dreamed of living in his historical homeland by the warm sea. But Glikin decided to leave after he was declared a “foreign agent” in July 2021. And two weeks after that closed the Open Media publication, where he worked: Russian authorities consider him associated with Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s organizations, which are recognized as undesirable in the country.

Since searches of his fellow journalists were carried out in Russia that summer, and Roman Dobrokhotov’s foreign passport was taken away from Roman Dobrokhotov after his publication The Insider was declared a “foreign agent,” Glikin decided not to tempt fate. There were other signals, he says: the publishing house refused an almost concluded contract for a book, the bank withdrew approval for a loan. And for the first time in 20 years, Glikin, who was left without work, was not invited anywhere.

Another Moscow journalist calls his emigration forced. He wished to remain anonymous and did not say where exactly he went with his family. “Foreign agency,” according to him, opens the way to criminal prosecution: no one even knows how to correctly fill out quarterly reports on their expenses - the Ministry of Justice did not give any recommendations or explanations.

Nothing prevents the Ministry of Justice from deciding that the reports had to be filled out in a certain way, and fining the “foreign agent” a couple of times for already submitted reports, after which there is a risk of criminal prosecution, as the journalist argues. The decision to leave was influenced by increased attention from law enforcement agencies and “incomprehensible characters” whom he considers associated with crime.

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Another reason for the journalist’s departure was that the publications where he had previously worked were recognized as either “foreign agents” or undesirable organizations. And cooperation with undesirable organizations is also a deadline. Authorities may well find the name of an author on an undesirable media website in an old publication and determine that he is still collaborating with or distributing materials from such an organization.

The case of journalist Ivan Safronov, accused by the FSB of treason, also prompted forced emigration. Anything can become treason in modern times: acquaintance with a diplomat, foreign money that has come to the account at least once, journalistic interest in the Ministry of Defense or the FSB, as the journalist believes. He says he feels like a refugee. Parents and friends remained in Russia, and it was not easy to leave all this.

His colleague in the journalistic workshop says that he left because of his responsibility for the children, but if they had not been there, he would have stayed.

It's getting worse too fast

At the end of September, after the elections to the State Duma, the Ministry of Justice in one fell swoop recognized 20 coordinators and council members of the movement in defense of the rights of voters “Voice” as “foreign agents” (the public movement itself was also recognized as a foreign agent). At least three of them went abroad.

Recognized as a “foreign media agent,” Vladimir Zhilinsky was the coordinator of the movement in the Pskov region. He decided to leave primarily because of the legislation on “foreign agents.” It is impossible to comply with discriminatory and absurd requirements, and failure to comply can result in prison, he believes.

The second reason is due to the fact that Zhilinsky is a Belarusian, and it has become dangerous for him to be in Russia, since the Russian authorities are detaining and give out Belarusians opposing Alexander Lukashenko.

Russian language teacher, femactivist and artist Daria Apakhonchich was among the top five people recognized as “foreign agents” at the end of 2020. Shortly before this, she was unexpectedly detained on the street and fined for a performance a month ago. But she did not immediately decide to leave Russia, at least temporarily, but only after a search at the end of January 2021. Then all devices, cards and phones, including children’s, were confiscated from Apohonchich.

Formally, the search was related to demonstrations in support of Alexei Navalny, but Apakhonchich considers this a pretext that the security forces used to gain access to computers and equipment. By this time, she had been fired from the Red Cross because of her activism, and after a search, the owner of her apartment in St. Petersburg put her out on the street.

Apohoncic says she no longer had a place to feel at home. She realized that things were getting worse too quickly and that she would not be able to guarantee the safety of her children. They studied remotely, so at first she just went on holiday with them, says Aponhovich. But in the end, Daria decided to stay abroad for a while.

Not only journalists or coordinators of Golos, but also lawyers, human rights activists and artists were recognized as “foreign media agents”. There are 14 such “foreign agents” in total.

Nine of them are not in Russia now. These are lawyers Ivan Pavlov and Valeria Vetoshkina, environmentalist and human rights activist Yevgeny Simonov, LGBT activist and human rights activist Igor Kochetkov, as well as members of the Pussy Riot group Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Veronika Nikulshina, satirist Viktor Shenderovich, publisher and producer Pyotr Verzilov and gallery owner Marat Gelman.

Some of them went abroad even before being recognized as “foreign agents” and are in no hurry to return.

Is it calmer than in Russia?

Journalist Elena Skvortsova, who worked in the human rights project “Team 29”, left for Georgia and continues to work in human rights projects. She says that she has gotten used to life in Tbilisi and has mastered local shopping - for example, she prefers to buy groceries at markets.

The journalist feels much calmer than in Russia. And there are so many emigrants in Georgia that it feels as if she never left - there are still the same faces around as before, as she says.

Voice coordinator Vladimir Zhilinsky is a programmer. He says he can write programs from anywhere on the planet where there is food and the Internet. In Tbilisi, according to him, people know how to live and appreciate life, there is a Russian-language infrastructure, including schools and kindergartens.

Employees of Idel.Realii (the media is recognized as a “foreign agent”) Andrei and Alina Grigoriev were included in the list of foreign agents in December 2021 and continue to work in Kazan. But, according to Andrei, they are seriously thinking about emigration and are considering possible options: the authorities could start tightening the screws at any moment, as he explains.

In January, the couple submitted their first reports to the Ministry of Justice and notified that they had a previously registered company. Andrey was a co-founder of this legal entity, and Alina, in order to meet the strict deadlines set for “foreign agents,” had to urgently buy out a stake in this company from the second co-founder, who had nothing to do with the problems of “foreign agents,” as Grigoriev said. “The costs of these procedures were significant,” says the journalist.

According to the calculations of Current Time (recognized as a “foreign agent”), the costs of conscientious implementation of the law amount to at least $3,5 thousand per year. This, in particular, includes the costs of creating a legal entity and lawyers - everyone who is on this list of the Ministry of Justice is challenging their status in court.

However, legal assistance to all “foreign agents” is currently provided by public organizations or their employers - unless, of course, they lost their jobs after being included in the register.

The foreign agent asked the foreign agent

The coordinator of “Voice” in Tver, Artem Vazhenkov, interviewed 44 of 75 “foreign agents” about how this status affected their lives and whether they planned to emigrate. About 40% confirmed that they were planning to leave or had already left.

Another 14% said they would not leave under any circumstances, while the rest admitted that they would only leave if there was a threat of criminal prosecution or danger to life or family.

About 80% of the “foreign agents” surveyed by Vazhenkov responded that their lives had worsened, primarily due to psychological burnout associated with constant control by government agencies. But 9% of respondents say that this status even psychologically strengthened and tempered them.

One of the people included in the register said that he felt “toxic” and a loss of self-identification - you are like a “foreign agent”, and then everything else.

The financial situation has not changed for only half of Vazhenkov’s interlocutors. For 45% it has worsened, another 5% expect problems due to a reduction in the amount of work. Some “foreign agents” became unemployed altogether. The ability to communicate with officials has also become more complicated: for example, in all requests to government agencies you must indicate that you have been recognized as a “foreign agent.” At the same time, you have to spend a huge amount of time fulfilling the requirements of the Ministry of Justice.

Vazhenkov’s comrade-in-arms, Golos coordinator Inna Karezina, also recognized as a “foreign agent,” noted that even such a simple study shows how seriously the lives of the people on this list are poisoned.

Stay until the end?

Human rights activist Lev Ponomarev was the first individual included in the Ministry of Justice register. His age and position in the human rights movement force him to stay in Russia. In Russia, according to 80-year-old Ponomarev, torture investigations are carried out only by those whom the authorities have recognized as “foreign agents.”

Ponomarev says he was ready to refuse money from Western funds, but could not find funding in Russia for his activities. And he calls it the greatest difficulty.

Despite his status as a “foreign agent,” Ponomarev is a member of the expert council under the Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova. He says that he successfully cooperates with her - for example, in the investigation of mass rapes in the Angara colony.

Former editor-in-chief of Open Media Yulia Yarosh is not going to leave either.

For a number of “foreign agents,” departure is possible only as a last resort.

One of them is the chief editor of the Sota project Oleg Elanchik. According to him, only a real threat to life and health or the threat of prison - to the journalist himself or his loved ones, as well as an understanding of the complete lack of opportunities to do anything in Russia - can force him to leave. But even then, as the journalist says, he is not sure that he will decide to emigrate.

Elanchik calls the most significant consequence of his “foreign agency” the refusal to publish on Facebook and other social networks under his own name - so as not to put blanks everywhere and not to expose those who repost it. Elanchik did not register a legal entity and send reports. For now, he assesses further consequences for himself hypothetically - it all depends on whether he will be prosecuted in Russia for failure to comply with the requirements of the Ministry of Justice.

The owner of an independent film club from Yaroslavl, Andrei Alekseev, currently has the latest number of a “foreign agent”. He received it a month and a half ago and says that he does not consider the idea of ​​leaving for himself. Markings and the obligation to record expenses are annoying, he explains, but so far this is not critical, and the first report must be submitted only in April.

Now all his projects are being maintained in full, none of the previously announced partnerships have ceased, and there are no reasons for depression, as he assures. Moreover, even before the status of “foreign agent,” two of his cinemas were closed in Yaroslavl over the past two years - this happened under pressure from the authorities, who have been preventing his work since 2019, according to Alekseev.

Yuri Gurman, a member of the “Voice” council from the Chelyabinsk region, is also under pressure, but has no plans to leave. At home in the Urals he has children, parents and an apiary, as he explains. Gurman aims to appeal the status of a foreign agent all the way to the Constitutional Court, where he previously successfully fought for the right of citizens to local self-government.

Do emigrants want to return to Russia?

Most “foreign agents” who become emigrants do not cut off the possibility of returning - they label their publications, register a legal entity and send financial reports to the Ministry of Justice.

So far, only one “foreign agent” who went abroad after being included in the register returned to Russia - because of social connections and work. If the level of threats increases, then he will have to leave for a long time, he does not rule out.

Another person has similar plans. She was working in Europe when she was recognized as a “foreign agent,” but after that she did not renew her contract and plans to return home this year. She explained her decision, among other things, by the desire to simplify reporting: the Ministry of Justice prohibits sending expense reports online.

Daria Apohonchich also thinks about returning to Russia soon, and says that she is doing everything for this: she sends reports, marks her texts. She wanted to wait abroad for the appeal of her case in court and get back the equipment confiscated during the search. The court in St. Petersburg rejected the appeal, the equipment has already been returned to the lawyer.

The lawyer of the former “Team 29”, Valeria Vetoshkina, considers her dream of returning home unrealizable, since in Russia, in her opinion, the entire civil society is being stifled and it is almost impossible for human rights lawyers to work.

Maxim Glikin, according to him, would like to come and live in Russia as long as he wants, and he is sure that in a few years such an opportunity will appear. Time works for “foreign agents”, and not for their age-based persecutors, as the journalist predicts.

Journalist Elena Skvortsova does not believe this. After oppositionists Lyubov Sobol and Dmitry Gudkov were banned from Tbilisi, emigrants in Georgia began to worry about what would happen next and whether they would be affected by the same ban as she says.

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Vladimir Zhilinsky from Golos says that even if the legislation on “foreign agents” changes, he is unlikely to want to return to a country where, in his assessment, there is no independent court, normal medicine outside Moscow and the education system has been destroyed.

In fact, if you want a quiet life after being recognized as a “foreign agent,” then emigration is the main and obvious way out, says another journalist from the Ministry of Justice register.

He does not want to do what is being pushed, but he has to. And slowly packing his bags in anticipation of the already scheduled departure.

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