The court refused to revoke the status of foreign agent to blogger Yevhenii Ponasenkov

The Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow refused to revoke the status of a so-called foreign agent to historian and blogger Yevgeny Ponasenkov. Ponasenkov tried to challenge his status for the second time. This time he pointed out that he has not received foreign funding for more than a year.

As the “Ostorozhno, Novosti” channel reports from the courtroom, a representative of the Ministry of Justice stated that Ponasenkov should be in the register even though he did not receive foreign money. As evidence that the blogger is under foreign influence, it was indicated that Ponasenkov traveled around Europe and recorded more than 30 videos in Italy about the “superiority of Western civilization through allegories and metaphors” (at the same time, the only video referred to by the Ministry of Justice was filmed in Moscow).

Ponasenkov’s representative pointed out in the lawsuit that the blogger is just doing his job, and the laws do not limit trips abroad and residence.

The Sota publication clarifies that in its speeches the Ministry of Justice repeatedly pointed to the foreign financing of Evgeny Ponasenkov. In particular, he was accused of receiving money from Radio Liberty.

Also, according to the ministry, the non-existent interview of Ponasenkov with Mark Feygin, which mentions political scientist Valery Solovey (Feygin and Solovey are also included in the register of foreign agents), was also the reason for inclusion in the register. In fact, the video was made by fans of Ponasenkov as a joke.

• Yevgeny Ponasenkov is a video blogger and publicist. He was included in the register of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice in April 2022.