The Kremlin moves against independent journalists – thousands could end up as “foreign agents”

The first five individuals were this week put on the list of Foreign Media Agents. Many more could soon follow. It has been a year of power consolidation for Vladimir Putin and his surrounding friends and allies. Major constitutional amendments were approved in a referendum and the Kremlin appeared to have gotten the public support it needs for a continued course of policy. Still, the strongmen that have ruled the country for the past two decades look increasingly anxious about their grip on power. That sense of unease is reflected in the series of recent repressive measures aimed at independent…