Valery Klepkin has been added to the “foreign agents” register

Today, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation added the third member of our organization, Valery Klepkin, to its register of so-called “foreign agents.”

Valery is a board member of Initiative FoReDi and a journalist with Echo Helsinki. He became the 1,268th entry in the “foreign agents” register.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the grounds for the designation included allegations that Valery disseminated “false information” about decisions and policies of Russian state authorities; opposed the war in Ukraine — referred to by the Ministry as the “special military operation”; participated in distributing materials produced by designated “foreign agents”; interacted with organizations declared “undesirable” in Russia; took part in events abroad described by the Ministry as “anti-Russian”; and disseminated what the authorities called “propaganda of LGBT relations.”

Initiative FoReDi condemns the repressive policies of the Russian authorities and the use of legislation on “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations” against independent journalists and civil and political activists, both those forced into exile and those who remain in Russia.

Other members of Initiative FoReDi had previously been designated as “foreign agents”: Nikita Kirillov — No. 819 in the register — and Maksim Aliev — No. 1156.

We also note that in 2025, Initiative FoReDi was designated an “undesirable organization” by the Russian authorities.