Russian security forces on Thursday searched the home of the parents of investigative journalist Alesya Marokhovskaya, editor-in-chief of OCCRP’s Latvia-based partner Important Stories (Важные истории or IStories), which Moscow has previously designated as a “foreign agent.”
The search followed charges brought against Marokhovskaya in Russia’s Far East Magadan region. Authorities allege she failed to comply with the requirements imposed on designated “foreign agents,” claiming she “willfully and unlawfully” neglected to submit mandatory reports to the Ministry of Justice during the summer and fall of 2024.
Marokhovskaya, listed as a “foreign agent” since 2021, learned of the charges through a copy of the indictment sent via Telegram.
Investigators from the Magadan region's Investigative Committee seized her parents’ phones during the raid, reportedly without allowing them to wait for legal representation. According to Marokhovskaya, there was “absolutely nothing” in her parents’ home that would justify such an action.
“The fact that a criminal case was opened against me and that they searched my parents’ home is nothing more than an attempt to put pressure on me. There is simply no other logic here,” Marokhovskaya told OCCRP.
According to IStories, investigators allegedly urged her parents to persuade their daughter to return to Russia, suggesting she would face only a fine. However, under the new criminal provisions, Marokhovskaya could face up to two years in prison if convicted.
During the search, authorities confiscated all "suspicious" equipment in her parents’ home. They also took her mother, who was born in Ukraine’s Cherkasy region, to the Investigative Committee for further questioning about relatives in Ukraine.
“Coming to my mother’s house, dragging her for interrogation—this is beyond any moral norms. This is rottenness,” Marokhovskaya said.
Russia’s Foreign Agents Law, enacted in 2012, has increasingly been used as a tool to suppress dissent, particularly after the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The legislation, criticized for its negative connotations reminiscent of the Soviet era, targets government critics, civil society organizations, independent journalists, and individuals allegedly under foreign influence.
In October 2024, the European Court of Human Rights condemned the law, ruling that it violated provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The court described the legislation as “stigmatising, misleading and used in an overly broad and unpredictable way.”
