The Ministry of Justice added the writer Boris Akunin and the publication “Kholod” to the register of “foreign agents”.
Also on the updated list of the department were the author of the Moscow Calling telegram channel Andrey Kurshin, journalist Alexander Minkin and former deputy of the Yoshkar-Ola city assembly Anton Sokolov.
According to the Ministry of Justice, Kholod disseminated “inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image” of Russia and its army. In addition, the publication “opposed special military operation». According to the department, Kurshin, Minkin and Sokolov also opposed the invasion of Ukraine, and Akunin “took part in fundraising events” in support of the Ukrainian army.
In December, a criminal case was opened against Boris Akunin under articles on justifying terrorism (205.2 of the Criminal Code) and disseminating “fakes” about the army (207.3 of the Criminal Code). Prior to this, pro-government pranksters Lexus and Vovan published a recording of a conversation with the writer on behalf of representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, where he condemns the Russian invasion. Akunin himself, after the release of the recording, noted that he had previously publicly opposed the war: “The fact that I supposedly agree with the thesis “a good Russian is a dead Russian” is, of course, nonsense. As is customary with this riffraff, they cut off something in my words, cheated on something, rearranged something.”
Andrei Kurshin is accused of spreading “fake news” about the army (point “d” of part 2 Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) due to two publications in the Moscow Calling telegram channel. The first talks about the attack on Krivoy Rog, as a result of which the local population had problems with water supply. The second reports an attack on a maternity ward in the Zaporozhye region. Previously, Kurshin himself fought on the side of the self-proclaimed DPR.
Today, January 12, deputies of the Yoshkar-Ola city assembly prematurely terminated the powers of their colleague Anton Sokolov. In 2022, he signed an appeal against the invasion of Ukraine and left for Germany.