Russia Declares RFE/RL, VOA 'Foreign Agents'

The Russian Justice Ministry has declared Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Voice of America (VOA), and several affiliated news services "foreign agents " under new legislation.

A statement on the Justice Ministry website said that in accordance with a new Russian law on mass media, it has decided to list RFE/RL, VOA, Current Time TV, and RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, Siberia.Reality, Idel.Reality, Factograph, Kavkaz Realii, and Crimea.Reality as "foreign mass media performing the functions of a foreign agent."

The one-sentence Justice Ministry statement did not specify what potential restrictions the media outlets could face, but lawmakers have said designated media could be subjected to detailed financial-reporting requirements and required to label published material as coming from a foreign agent.

Russian officials have said the law is a "symmetrical...