A regional Russian lawmaker has been labeled a “foreign agent” by the Justice Ministry, a move he claims signals a widening crackdown on dissent amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Alexander Ivanov, a member of the Il Tumen regional parliament in the republic of Sakha (Yakutia), received the designation in late February, according to reports from The Moscow Times and other news outlets.
“I hear shouts of joy coming from the ranks of my opponents: ‘That is what he deserves!’ Well, today it is me and tomorrow they might come for others, my friends. Don’t be so happy about it,” Ivanov said following the announcement, as reported by The Moscow Times.
The designation comes after fellow deputies requested a law enforcement investigation into Ivanov for allegedly spreading “fake” news and violating Russia’s anti-extremism laws. The inquiry stemmed from a video posted during a recent trip to Kazakhstan, where Ivanov praised the country’s independence and expressed regret that the Sakha people “don’t have the same fortune,” according to The Moscow Times. He stated, “We are not allowed to study our language, study our true history, to control the lands inherited from our forefathers.”
Ivanov’s comments reflect a long-standing tension between the Sakha republic and Moscow. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sakha, similarly known as Yakutia, sought greater sovereignty, declaring both Sakha and Russian as official languages in its 1992 constitution and asserting ownership of its vast natural resources, including significant diamond deposits, as “the property and inalienable heritage” of its people, as detailed in The Moscow Times.
Born in 1980, Ivanov rose through local politics, serving as head of the village of Zharkhan and later as mayor of Nyurba before being elected to the Sakha parliament in September 2023 as an independent candidate backed by the Recent People party, according to The Moscow Times. His election and subsequent nomination for parliament chairman, though unsuccessful, were seen as a challenge to the established order, with Ivanov warning against treating the assembly as a “private business office.”
However, his outspoken views and perceived nationalist sentiments led to his expulsion from the New People faction, following accusations of harboring Sakha nationalist and pan-Turkic sentiments, as reported by EADaily. These accusations were linked to a 2024 interview with Turkish blogger Cem Kıran, where Ivanov’s statements were allegedly taken out of context, according to The Moscow Times.
Ivanov acknowledged the “foreign agent” designation was likely connected to both the interview and his support for protests in the republic of Altai against local self-government reform. He has stated he will not leave the country while holding his parliamentary mandate, asserting his “civic duty to the people, to the nation.”
The Il Tumen is scheduled to debate and vote on Ivanov’s possible expulsion from the republic’s parliament at its next plenary session on March 25-26.
