Russian pop star Oksimiron and writer Dmitry Glukhovsky are included in the list of “foreign agents” published by the Ministry of Justice, the updated version of which includes persons recognized as such by the Russian authorities.
Miron Fedorov, 37, whose stage name is Oksimiron, confirmed in a video clip released in late February that he is “against Russia’s war against Ukraine”, calling it “a disaster and a crime.”
He wrote on social media: “No to war.”
Oksimiron’s account, which is very popular among Russian youth on Instagram, has 2.1 million followers.
In addition to Oksimiron, the list includes 43-year-old writer Dmitry Glukhovsky, who faces up to 10 years in prison for criticizing the Russian military after their attack on Ukraine.
The author of the out-of-print book Metro 2033 previously urged the Russian authorities to end the war after the first attacks on Ukraine.
In early June, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs put the writer, who may be outside Russia, on the wanted list.
Alena Popova, a Russian human rights activist known for her online campaign against domestic violence in Russia, also appears on the published list as an “agent abroad.”
With the outbreak of the Ukrainian war, Russia unleashed an unprecedented campaign of repression, as the authorities issued a law providing for imprisonment for up to 15 years in case of publication of any information about the army that the authorities consider misleading.
A new wave of repressions against cultural figures comes a few hours after the Russian public organization Memorial, banned in Russia since 2021, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.