Illustrative photo – On October 24, 2022, Russian historian Andrej Zubov spoke at the press conference of Masaryk University in Brno, where he lectures at the Faculty of Philosophy after leaving Russia.
Moscow – The Russian Ministry of Justice has added historian Andrei Zubov to the list of so-called foreign agents, who in October of last year accepted the position of visiting professor at Masaryk University in Brno. Persons who find themselves on the list of foreign agents are subject to much stricter official control. The addition of Zubov to this register was reported on its website by Radio Svobodná Evropa.
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The Russian Ministry explained the inclusion of Zubov on the list by the fact that he allegedly disseminated false information about state authorities as well as materials of other foreign agents. A new law has been in force in Russia since the beginning of December, which allows anyone who, from the regime's point of view, has come under “foreign influence” to be labeled as a foreign agent. Now the authorities do not even have to prove that the person in question receives financial support from abroad.
In 2014, Zubov spoke out against Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. He then had to leave the State Institute of International Relations in Moscow, where he taught. The historian also repeatedly criticized the Russian war in Ukraine.
In 2019, Masaryk University awarded him an honorary doctorate. Even then, he received an offer from her to give a lecture, but he refused, saying that he wanted to work in Russia. He arrived only last year, when he no longer saw a perspective in his homeland and did not feel safe. The last impetus for him was the mobilization in Russia, associated with a significant change in rhetoric and hardening of propaganda.
