The Ministry of Justice recognized the deputy of the legislative assembly of St. Petersburg Boris Vishnevsky as a foreign agent

The Russian Ministry of Justice included in the register of foreign agents the deputy chairman of the Yabloko party, deputy of the legislative assembly of St. Petersburg, Boris Vishnevsky. Among the reasons for its inclusion in the register are criticism of the special operation in Ukraine and the “dissemination of false information” about the authorities. Mr. Vishnevsky himself, who has already become the fifth regional deputy-foreign agent and the second deputy chairman of Yabloko with this status, does not agree with the decision of the Ministry of Justice and plans to challenge it.

The Ministry of Justice traditionally updated the list of foreign agents on Friday, March 29. This time, this status was received, among others, by the famous deputy of the Legislative Assembly (LA) of St. Petersburg, deputy chairman of Yabloko, Boris Vishnevsky. As explained on the department’s website, the politician was declared a foreign agent for speaking “on information platforms provided by foreign media and foreign agents,” “opposing a special military operation in Ukraine,” participating in the creation of materials of foreign agents, and also “disseminating false information.” about the decisions of the authorities of the Russian Federation and their policies. Let us note that another deputy chairman of Yabloko, Lev Shlosberg, appears in the register of foreign agents.

“Nothing unexpected happened: an opposition democratic politician in Russia, representing those who do not agree with the actions of the authorities, must be ready at any moment for such a response,” Mr. Vishnevsky (included in the register of foreign agents) commented on the decision of the Ministry of Justice in his Telegram channel. He is sure that this was done to interfere with his political activities, but he intends to continue working in parliament. “I will still fulfill my obligations to voters,” the deputy told Kommersant. According to him, he will indicate the new status in publications and documents, since he is “forced” to do so, but he will appeal the decision of the Ministry of Justice, which he considers illegal and unlawful.

“There is not the slightest basis for such decisions regarding me, even according to the monstrous law that exists,” concluded Boris Vishnevsky (included in the register of foreign agents).

Boris Vishnevsky (included in the register of foreign agents) began his political career in 1990–1993 as a deputy of the Moscow District Council of St. Petersburg. In 1995 he joined Yabloko, was one of the authors of the party program, and ran for the State Duma three times. Since 2011, he has been a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, where in 2016–2021 he led the Yabloko faction, and now holds the post of deputy leader of the faction. In 2021, among his rivals in the elections to the Legislative Assembly were two Boris Vishnevskys (not included in the register of foreign agents), who changed their names, surnames and even appearance shortly before the start of the campaign. The head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, called this situation a “shame,” although she made the reservation that nominating “doubles” does not contradict the law.

During his work in the legislative assembly, Boris Vishnevsky (included in the register of foreign agents) became famous for his active criticism of the city authorities and their individual projects. In particular, he opposed the construction of the Okhta Center (the business district of Gazprom), the demolition of the Petersburg sports complex and the transfer of St. Isaac’s Cathedral to the control of the Russian Orthodox Church, and also achieved the dismissal of the head of the city committee for youth policy, Alexander Parkhomenko, who walked around St. Petersburg May 9, 2014 with a portrait of Joseph Stalin.

Yabloko also criticized the annexation of Crimea and the decision to launch a special operation in Ukraine.

In May 2022, the social network VKontakte blocked his page at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office for “disseminating false information,” and in January 2023, the Vasileostrovsky District Court of St. Petersburg received materials against the deputy about discrediting the army, but the politician himself was ultimately not summoned to court . Finally, at the beginning of 2023, the oppositionist achieved a ban on the installation of flags with the letter Z in the legislative assembly meeting room: Speaker Alexander Belsky agreed that such symbols are not written down in the Legislative Assembly regulations, and therefore constitute a violation of it.

The St. Petersburg ZS reacted ambiguously to the news from Moscow. For example, non-party deputies Marina Shishkina and Mikhail Amosov, elected from A Just Russia – For Truth, said that they are well acquainted with the newly minted foreign agent and the decision of the Ministry of Justice will not affect their joint work. Moreover, Mr. Amosov called the restriction of the rights of citizens out of court “wrong” and “absurd.” But United Russia expressed doubt that they will now write joint laws with Yabloko, which, according to the Ministry of Justice, is subject to foreign influence.

Let us remind you that Boris Vishnevsky (included in the register of foreign agents) is not the first regional deputy with this status. Previously, the list of foreign agents included Moscow City Duma deputies Daria Besedina (Yabloko), Evgeny Stupin (Communist Party of the Russian Federation, expelled from the party) and Mikhail Timonov (A Just Russia), as well as the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation faction in the State Council of Komi, Viktor Vorobyov. At the same time, the latter, due to receiving the status of a foreign agent, lost his paid position in parliament. Meanwhile, the State Duma and the Moscow City Duma have already announced their intention to prepare amendments to the legislation that will prohibit foreign agents from participating in elections at any level and may even allow the deprivation of mandates of current deputies with such status.

Polina Puchkova, St. Petersburg