Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for TV Rain Journalist Yulia Taratuta

Russian law enforcement authorities issued an arrest warrant for exiled journalist Yulia Taratuta after accusing her of violating the country’s “foreign agent” law, the news website Mediazona reported Monday.

Russia’s Justice Ministry labeled Taratuta, a presenter with the exiled broadcaster TV Rain, a “foreign agent” in December 2022. The label, which carries Soviet-era connotations, requires designees to submit rigorous financial reports to the ministry and display “foreign agent” disclaimers in publications and social media posts.

A Moscow court fined Taratuta twice last summer for failing to submit those reports to the Justice Ministry, prompting law enforcement authorities to press criminal charges against her.

The Moscow branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, announced criminal charges against Taratuta last month for allegedly violating the country’s “foreign agent” law and living outside Russia.

Failing to carry out “foreign agent” obligations is punishable by up to two years in prison if convicted.

Nearly 1,000 individuals, organizations and news outlets, including The Moscow Times, have been branded “foreign agents” since Russia introduced the label under a 2012 law.

The law has been broadened in the years since, including last Monday when President Vladimir Putin expanded the criteria for designating “foreign agents” and barring them from engaging in educational activities or receiving support from local authorities.