Russia begins widespread freezing of bank accounts belonging to exiled cultural figures

Russian authorities have quietly begun freezing the bank accounts of prominent cultural figures who have emigrated. Political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann was the first to report this, on July 14, in her program Status. The freezes are carried out on the basis of an unofficial “secret list,” she said, with no notification to those affected. Schulmann said the decisions are made by an interagency commission on countering the financing of terrorism and extremist activity, and that most of those…