​The UK Defense Intelligence: Moscow Pushes to Criminalize Indirect Foreign Influence

The russian government’s Commission for drafting legislation has backed amendments to the administrative code which strengthen penalties for breaching the law on foreign agents, according to russian media. The amendments are said to primarily concern those in contact with foreign agents, as opposed to the foreign agents themselves. Chairman of the State Duma security committee Vasily Piskarev has also reportedly developed further amendments which aim to completely ban purported foreign agents from teaching, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.

The 2012 Foreign Agents Law defined foreign agents as individuals or organizations which have received financial support from abroad. This applies to russian news outlets and human rights organisations, many of which have been forced to operate outside of russia.

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Russia has broadened the foreign agent legislation since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the proposed amendments would further expand the legislation’s already far-reaching scope. This continues a wider trend of increasing domestic repression since Putin returned to the presidency in 2012, which has dramatically accelerated since the invasion of Ukraine.

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