Russia has placed the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on a “foreign agent” list, which could undermine its credibility, along with the Kremlin’s opponent and critic, a well-known economist and blogger, among others.
Russian law requires foreign-funded individuals and entities involved in vaguely defined “political activities” to be labeled “foreign agents,” a pejorative connotation in Russia used by the authorities to discredit those on the list and stifle dissent .
WWF, now also on the list, is an international non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington, DC, working in the field of nature conservation and reducing human impact on the environment, with projects around the world, including in Russia.
Explaining Moscow’s decision, the Russian Ministry of Justice stated that WWF “under the pretext of protecting nature and the environment tried to influence the decisions of the executive and legislative authorities” and “impeded the implementation of industrial and infrastructure projects.”
For their part, WWF representatives told the Russian news site Meduza that the decision to recognize the organization as a foreign agent was unreasonable, and said they would challenge it in court, explaining that the organization would continue to “protect rare species of animals and preserve the nature of Russia.”
The Russian ministry also listed Russian economist Sergei Guriev, a professor at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, as a “foreign agent”, accusing him of “speaking negatively about members of the Russian Armed Forces” and “spreading, through the foreign press, false information about decisions taken by state bodies in Russia, and the policy pursued by them.
Added to the list were the likes of Gennady Gudkov, a former lawmaker turned opposition figure for publicly opposing what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, and feminist blogger Nika Vodwood, who “has spoken openly in support of Ukraine.” “discredited the concept of serving the Motherland” and “formed a negative attitude towards military service.”
Another addition to the Kremlin’s list was the Free Buryatia Foundation, a human rights group from Russia’s Siberian region of Buryatia, which has denounced Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine and helped soldiers who refused to continue fighting in Ukraine return home, now indicted by the Justice Department. to call for “actions, the results of which may violate the territorial integrity of Russia.”