'Russian Nobel Prize?': Russia labels Bellingcat and other journalists as 'foreign agents'

As the Russianindependent editor Dmitry Muratovwas awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize 2021, Russia’s authorities labelled few journalists and publications as 'foreign agents'.

A few hours after the world celebrated Russia’s investigative journalist, the Russian authorities labelled an investigative news outlet, Bellingcat, as a ‘foreign agent’. Along with the media firm, nine other journalists and two other media houses were also treated the same way.

This action by the Russian authorities is being understood as a trial of hampering the work carried out by these journalists and media houses, which is also a lot of times against the ruling government.

However, the Kremlin has denied these allegations, but has maintained that three companies and nine journalists are acting as foreign agents.

The decision by Kremlin was not supported by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who tweeted, "we will try to help people who have been designated as [foreign] agents, who are being hounded and forced out of Russia."

Bellingcat is known for revealing Russia agents who had been accused of carrying out the Novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury in 2018.

The news did not come as a shock for the investigative journalism firm.

"What took you so long?" tweeted Christo Grozev, an investigator for Bellingcat.

"Bellingcat has been deemed such a threat to Russia that we've been declared a foreign agent," said Eliot Higgins, Bellingcat’s founder. “I guess this is the Russian Nobel prize?”

Meanwhile, US-registered MNews.world and the Caucasus Knot website have also been included in this list of 'foreign agents'.

Any individual or company that has been labelled as a 'foreign agent' by the Russian government is supposed to register with the authorities and report all activities and finances every six months. In addition to this, all their exchanges, including text messages, are to come with a disclaimer that reads that the concerned person is a foreign agent.