Two more Russian non-governmental organizations have been registered as "foreign agents," the Justice Ministry said Thursday, referring to a tag levied on politically active NGOs that receive funding from abroad.
The Regional Press Institute and the Memo.ru information agency have both been included on the government's list of "foreign agents," the ministry said in an online statement.
Memo.ru is a partner organization of the Memorial human rights group, which is also included on the list. Among the other groups to work under the aegis of Memo.ru is Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasus Knot), an online news site that focuses on human rights issues in the Caucasus.
The Regional Press Institute works with journalists and students to "aid the establishment and development of independent media in Russia," its website says.
In accordance with a controversial law passed in 2012, any NGO that receives funding from abroad and engages in vaguely defined political activities is required to register as a "foreign agent." The term was widely used to refer to spies in the Soviet era.
