The winner of a prestigious Cannes Film Festival award has been declared a foreign agent by Russian authorities for his criticism of Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Acclaimed Russian film director Andrey Zvyagintsev was designated a “foreign agent” by the Kremlin on Friday, according to state news agency TASS. Zvyagintsev won the 2026 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival for, Minotaur, a film depicting a Russian businessman who is forced to decide which of his employees should be mobilised to go and fight in Ukraine.
Moscow has kept casualty numbers from the fighting in Ukraine heavily restricted and has not provided timely or complete public updates, but estimates of Russian soldiers killed in the four-year war range from anywhere from 200,000 to half a million. Russia’s Ministry of Justice on Friday accused Zvyagintsev of disseminating “false information about decisions taken by the public authorities of the Russian Federation and the policies they pursue”. The 62-year-old director, who has lived outside Russia since the COVID pandemic, is known for a series of other films including, The Return, The Banishment, and, Leviathan, a bleak portrayal of life in rural Russia.
People listed as foreign agents are subjected to onerous bureaucratic requirements and restrictions on their income in Russia. They are barred from holding public office and forced to register their activities with the authorities. They also have to add warnings on everything they publish, including on social media, that the content was produced by a foreign agent.
The label adds connotations of espionage to numerous people, including public figures, whom it deems to be engaging in anti-Russian activity with support from abroad. Previously, writer Boris Akunin and rock musician Boris Grebenshchikov have been labelled as foreign agents by Moscow.
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