Index on Censorship<\/span><\/i> focuses on the increasing ability of autocratic regimes to target dissidents and silence critical voices abroad, using networks of agents and modern technologies to bypass security measures and strike with impunity across porous borders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The frightening number of poisonings, attacks and assassinations of public figures critical of autocratic regimes over the last two decades shows that it is often not enough for dissidents simply to leave their country in order to escape persecution.<\/span><\/p>\n In a triple feature entitled \u2018Living in Russia\u2019s shadow\u2019, three leading Russian journalists share their experiences of a life in exile that requires constant vigilance. They reveal the extensive precautions they must now take to protect themselves from potential attacks by Kremlin agents \u2013 from ensuring personal items never leave their sides to avoiding large gatherings and public appearances.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018When many of us left Russia, it seemed like we were safe. The sense of alarm diminished a bit \u2013 but it turned out to be in vain\u2019, writes Echo of Moscow radio host Irina\u00a0Babloyan, who suffers recurring symptoms and allergic reactions since what she suspects was an attempt to poison her in Georgia in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n The investigative journalist <\/span>Andrei Soldatov<\/span><\/a> outlines the raft of bureaucratic actions the Kremlin is taking in order to silence exiled Russian journalists and writers, from the confiscation of property and the refusal to issue new passports to initiating legal action against their publishers for alleged libel.<\/span><\/p>\n Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of the independent liberal newspaper <\/span>Novaya<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>Gazeta<\/span><\/i>, faces the prospect of being\u00a0prosecuted in absentia thanks to his designation in Russia as a \u2018foreign agent\u2019. Far more than just a stigmatic label, being a \u2018foreign agent\u2019 means being effectively excluded from the public sphere and blocked from all work with Russia, even from abroad.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I believe these transboundary repressions against\u00a0emigrants are primarily needed to\u00a0intimidate Russians who remain in the country. If people see that there is an alternative to dictatorship and war, Vladimir Putin\u2019s regime will face a\u00a0severe crisis\u2019, writes Martynov.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.eurozine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/index-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNo safe haven<\/h2>\n