Russian Justice Ministry sets up register of foreign-agent individuals, adding 2 journalists to it

MOSCOW. April 5 (Interfax) - The Russian Justice Ministry has set up a register of individuals designated as foreign agents and included in it two Russian journalists, Yevgeny Kiselyov and Matvei Ganapolsky.

The register of foreign-agent individuals was published on the ministry's website on Tuesday.

According to the list, Kiselyov and Ganapolsky, who are on the register, are engaged in political activities while receiving funding from Ukraine.

Yevgeny Kiselyov is a Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian journalist, media manager, political observer, author, and host of programs on the Russian television channels NTV, TNT, TV-6 and now the host of the Ukraine 24 television channel.

Matvei Ganapolsky is a Russian and Ukrainian journalist, filmmaker and writer. He has hosted broadcasts on the Ekho Moskvy radio station, worked for channels in several countries, and wrote for the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. He left Russia for Ukraine after 2014.

The Justice Ministry's intention to set up a register of foreign agents, which will include individuals funded by foreign sources and engaged in political activity in Russia, was announced in February 2021. This register was created only now. It became the fourth list of foreign agents in Russia. Prior to it, the registers of foreign-agent NGOs, foreign-agent media outlets and foreign-agent unregistered organizations have been established.