Historian Kurilla Reacts to Foreign Agent Designation

Volgograd-based historian and American studies scholar Ivan Kurilla has commented on being designated a foreign agent. The corresponding post appeared on his social media several days after his name was added to the registry at the end of last week.

«Well, here we go, I guess? Thank you to everyone who wrote kind words to me and about me over these past two days; I felt like it was an extra birthday,» the professor noted. «Some may recall that I became a «candidate foreign agent» back in August 2022—as became known from a leak at the beginning of 2023. When dismissing me from EU (the European University at Saint Petersburg), my superiors predicted that I would be added to this list immediately.»

The historian admitted the status did not come as a surprise. He had followed the weekly updates to the registry with particular interest for two years, which amounts to over a hundred Fridays. «Pleasant, however, it was not,» he added.

According to the scholar, the new status is justified by his alleged dissemination of messages from foreign agents and undesirable organizations, his speeches at foreign venues, as well as his position on the special military operation and his residence abroad.

• «I have considered and still consider the so-called «special military operation» a crime,» Kurilla emphasized.
• He called freedom of speech, including the right to express one«s opinion in dialogue with any interlocutor and to disseminate ideas, an inalienable human right.
• He explained his residence abroad as a consequence of prior decisions made by the same entities that have now recognized him as a foreign agent.

The professor stated he does not intend to revisit this topic frequently, although the designation will accompany his publications. He also expressed hope of returning to Russia, noting that he still has things to lose and will not hasten those losses.

In an addition to his post, Kurilla drew a historical parallel. His grandfather, Ivan Ivanovich Kurilla, was arrested on 8 March 1938 on charges of espionage and counter-revolutionary agitation. «My grandfather clearly had it much harder than I do (but the essence of the accusations—as well as their substantiation—is strangely similar),» the historian wrote. A year and a half later, the espionage charge was dropped, and the court acquitted his grandfather on the second charge.

Political scientist Alexander Saygin succinctly commented on the event in his Telegram channel: «Ivan Kurilla, the last sane American history scholar, has been added to the foreign agents registry. Not that he was opposed to the authorities in Russia, but he clearly said a lot that our State-loving compatriots, lost in illusions, could not accept.»