The Ministry of Justice has included journalist Arkady Babchenko on the list of «foreign agents».
Also included in the register is the limited liability company Khroniker, which was founded by journalist Vladimir Ruvinsky, who was recognized as a «foreign agent» last fall.
According to the Ministry of Justice, Babchenko collected donations in support of the Ukrainian army and disseminated «inaccurate information about the decisions made by public authorities and their policies.» The journalist left Russia in 2017, fearing for his safety after posting about the crash of the Tu-154 of the Russian Ministry of Defense flying to Syria. In the publication, Babchenko expressed the opinion that the deceased artists of the Alexandrov Ensemble «are not worthy of regret.»
In May 2018, the SBU conducted a special operation staging the death of Babchenko. The Ukrainian security forces reported that in this way they prevented the assassination attempt on the journalist, which was being prepared by the Russian special services.
In the summer of 2020, Rosfinmonitoring added Arkady Babchenko to the list of terrorists and extremists.