On Friday 2 June, the European Union criticised the charges against human rights defender Valentina Cherevatenko, who is the leader of the NGO Union of Women of Don.
These charges "represent the first criminal case opened under the 'foreign agents' law in Russia. The practice of declaring NGOs as 'foreign agents' restricts civil society and impedes the exercise of fundamental freedoms", the spokesperson for the European External Action Service said in a press release.
Cherevatenko was...