Russia’s Justice Ministry has added Abkhazian journalist Inal Khashig to the official register of foreign agents, claiming that Khashig ‘disseminated false information about decisions made by public authorities of the Russian Federation and the policies they pursue, as well as about the electoral system’ and ‘interacted with foreign political figures’.
Khashig’s inclusion on the foreign agents register was announced on 7 March, along with Russian blogger Nikolai Levshits, who has lived in Georgia since 2019. He was reportedly the first Abkhazian journalist to be added to the registry.
Russia implemented its foreign agents law in 2012, which has been widely viewed as a means of cracking down on independent media and civil society.
In response to his addition on the registry, Khashig wrote on his Telegram channel that he has only written ‘exclusively on the Abkhazian topic’, noting that from the accusations made by the Russian authorities, he realised ‘talking about the sovereignty of Abkhazia is now sedition’.
‘This status is unlikely to affect my future professional activities. I will continue to write and speak about Abkhazia and the events taking place in and around it as I have written’, he noted.
Khashig is most well known for his journalistic work, including founding the independent Russian-language weekly newspaper Chegemskaya Pravda, where he also works as editor-in-chief.
The news of his addition to the registry was met with some criticism in Abkhazian society, with people taking to social media to express concern that it was a sign of Russia’s increasing influence over Abkhazia.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
Nate Ostiller
