Russia declares Nobel Peace Prize winning editor a "foreign agent"

Russian authorities on Friday declared newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to be a foreign agent, continuing the country’s moves to suppress critics and independent reporting.

Russian law allows for individuals and organizations receiving funding from abroad to be declared foreign agents, a pejorative term that potentially undermines their credibility with the Russian public. The status also requires designees to mark any publications with a disclaimer stating they are foreign agents.

Muratov was chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, which was widely respected abroad for its investigative reporting and was frequently critical of the Kremlin. Muratov was a co-laureate of the 2021 Nobel prize; he later put up his Nobel medal for auction, receiving $103.5 million which he said would be used to aid refugee children from Ukraine.