A Moscow court has imposed a fine on the website of MAXIM men`s magazine for referencing journalist Yuri Dud without explicitly stating his “foreign agent” status, as required by Russian law. This information comes from court documents.
The legal action stems from an article published on MAXIMONLINE in November 2023. The piece featured singer Vika Tsyganova, including her comments about artist Yaroslav Dronov (SHAMAN) and mentioning an interview she conducted with Dud. According to the court records, the article failed to include the mandatory “foreign agent” disclaimer for the journalist.
The administrative protocol was initiated under Part 2.1 of Article 13.15 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses, which addresses the dissemination of information about foreign agents in media without proper designation.
Initially, in January 2024, a Moscow court fined “Shkulev Digital Technologies LLC,” the owner of the website. However, this decision was later overturned on cassation and sent back for review to the appellate court. On September 9, the Moscow City Court reduced the original fine amount, though the specific figure was not disclosed in the available materials. This particular article of the Code of Administrative Offenses typically imposes penalties ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 rubles for legal entities. For small businesses, the penalty is set between half of the minimum and half of the maximum administrative fine.
The website`s legal team successfully argued that the company qualifies as a small and medium-sized enterprise, which resulted in a reduced fine.
The media holding declined to comment on the court`s decision regarding this matter.
In a related development in July, the Basmanny District Court in Moscow announced that Dud had been arrested in absentia and placed on an international wanted list as part of a criminal investigation. He is accused of failing to comply with foreign agent regulations while allegedly gathering information related to Russia`s military and military-technical activities, which could be used against the country`s security if obtained by foreign sources. This offense under the Russian Criminal Code carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years.
The Russian Ministry of Justice added Dud to the registry of media foreign agents in April 2022, and he has since been repeatedly fined for non-compliance with the foreign agent legislation.
