MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. The Dozhd television channel, IStories or the Important Stories publication and seven journalists have joined the list of foreign agents, the Russian Justice Ministry said on Friday.

According to the ministry’s register, Istories Fonds, a legal entity registered in Latvia, and the Dozhd TV Channel, as well as IStories Editor-In-Chief Roman Anin, editors Roman Shleynov and Olesya Shmagun, journalists Dmitry Velikovsky, Alesya Marokhovskaya, and Irina Dolinina have been recognized as foreign agents. Apart from that, the Justice Ministry has labelled Stepan Petrov, leader of the Yakutia - Our Opinion NGO, as a foreign agent.

Since July 15, Russia’s Justice Ministry has listed 13 journalists from Project, Otkrytye Media (Open Media), and Radio Liberty on its registry of foreign agents. On July 15, the Prosecutor General’s Office recognized the activities of the US NGO Project Media as undesirable in Russia. On July 23, the Justice Ministry listed The Insider SIA, a Latvian legal entity and the administrator of the domain name of The Insider internet portal.

Under Russian laws, individuals recognized as foreign agents are obliged once every six months to report on their activities, including about the uses of funds and other property they receive from foreign sources. They are also obliged to indicate their foreign agent status in the materials they publish or distribute. Apart from that, such individuals cannot be employed by government agencies and local self-governments. Any breach of these rules carries an administrative or criminal penalty.