The Ministry of Justice of Russia included this Friday in the list of foreign agents two opponents of the Kremlin and the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, the oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the chess player Gary Kasparov.
The inclusion in the list of Khodorkovsky and Kasparovboth in exile, is because they carried out political activities with foreign financing, from the United States and Ukraine, according to the official statement.
Khodorkovsky, once the richest man in Russia when he presided over the oil company Yukos, he was pardoned in 2013 by the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, following serving ten years in prison and since then he has dedicated himself to supporting the democratic opposition.
One of its leading members was Kasparovwho parked chess to participate in the protest movementalthough he went into exile ten years ago following being arrested for biting a policeman.
Both have offered numerous interviews in the Western media in the last three months to condemn the Russian “special military operation” in Ukraine and call on the United States and the European Union to approve sanctions once morest Moscow.
Who are foreign agents for Russia?
The list of foreign agents began to be drawn up at the end of December 2020 with the inclusion of journalists and activists, among which the most prominent was Lev Ponomariov, the most veteran human rights defender who recently went into exile in Georgia due to persecution by the Russian security services.
Persons declared foreign agents cannot hold positions in the Russian Public Administration or have access to state secrets.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putinhas defended the Foreign Agents Act as a means of limiting Western interference in the political life of this country.
It also argues that it emulates existing practices in other countries, especially the United States, although the opposition considers it an instrument to persecute those most critical of the Kremlin. (EFE)
