Russia's Justice Ministry on Friday declared the independent Mediazona news outlet a "foreign agent", a designation used to label foreign-funded organisations that it says are engaged in political activity.
Mediazona "disseminated false information about Russia's law enforcement system" and a number of its staff have already been labelled as foreign agents, the ministry said.
The term "foreign agent" carries negative Soviet-era connotations and subjects those designated to extra government scrutiny.
Mediazona said via its channel on the Telegram messaging app that this was the second time that Russian authorities had declared it to be a "foreign agent".
Separately, its editor Yegor Skovoroda — who like the outlet's other journalists now works outside Russia — described the ministry's statement as "incredibly crazy".
The news outlet was first designated as a "foreign agent" in 2021, and the Justice Ministry removed it from the register of authorised media organisations in Russia.
Russian state communications regulator Roskomnadzor blocked Mediazona's website within Russia in March 2022, shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has also opened criminal cases against several Mediazona journalists who are currently working from abroad, including editor-in-chief Sergei Smirnov.
