May 25, 2021

Bling Defiantly!


Bling Defiantly!
"Foreign Agent." / Photograph by Haley Bader

There is a not-so-fresh trend in Russia: labeling nonprofits, individuals, and unregistered organizations as “foreign agents." But the trend has already begotten the next one, as a fashion innovator has come up with a swankier way to “report” one's newly minted status.

On April 23, Russian authorities designated Meduza, the leading Russian-language independent news website, a “foreign agent.” The term hearkens back to a 2012 law that has since been expanded to require certain organizations and politically active individuals to disclose whether they receive foreign funding. If applicable, these entities must include the “foreign agent” declaration in any promotional materials.

Shortly after Meduza leveled up to “foreign agent,” Putin enacted fines that could reach the equivalent of $650 US if a media agent neglected to self-report.

As any self-respecting defiant might ask herself: if you must comply with slapping an ugly label on something, why not do it with style?

The company Avgvst Jewelry jumped on the opportunity to show support for Meduza, along with the nasiliu.net Center for Assistance to Victims of Domestic Violence, which was also designated a foreign agent. The company has released a series of sexy bling that any proud foreign agent can wear. 

On May 13, Avgvst opened pre-orders for the decorations. It is now possible to purchase a delicately dangling chain necklace that proclaims “И Н О А Г Е Н Т” (“Foreign Agent”), or a simpler pendant stamped with the same. Avgvst jewelry founder Natalia Bryantseva hopes that the jewelry will take the designation from shameful to fashionable.

 

You Might Also Like

Aiming for RuNet
  • May 01, 2021

Aiming for RuNet

Russia’s crackdown on internet freedoms reached a fever pitch this spring as the government attempted to slow Twitter traffic in response to the microblogging platform’s alleged refusal to delete banned content.
Freedoms Found and Lost
  • January 01, 2007

Freedoms Found and Lost

Fifteen years ago, Russia had the makings of a free press for the first time in its history. Nine years later, the winds began to change.
Defenders of the Pen
  • September 01, 2017

Defenders of the Pen

Not many organizations defend the press in modern Russia. In fact, just one seems to be doing it vigorously. This one.
The Magazine Boom
  • May 01, 2002

The Magazine Boom

Want proof Russia's economy is on the mend? Look no further than the newsstands. New national magazine brands are being introduced every week. So we sent Editor Mikhail Ivanov to look at what is behind the boom in publishing and where it is going.
Aliens, help Russia!
  • January 18, 2018

Aliens, help Russia!

Darkness descends on Moscow, a cry for help ascends to the sky, and a foreign agent stays exactly where it is. Also huskies and ancient teeth.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955