Moscow Targets Journalist Boris Demash, Who Exposed FSB, SVR and GRU Networks in Cyprus

The Moscow Region office of Russia’s Ministry of Justice has notified Boris Demash, founder of Cyprus Daily News, that two reports will be drawn up against him under Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences for violating the rules on the activities of a foreign agent. The reports are scheduled for 12 and 13 November. They will be drawn up in his absence.

Both notices are dated 12 October and signed by K. Yu. Plekhov, deputy head of the office. The first concerns Part 1 of Article 19.34, that is, violating the rules on a foreign agent’s activities. The second concerns Part 2: publishing materials without the label indicating foreign-agent status.

The reason is clear. Since 2020, Boris Demash, together with the Berlin-based writer and journalist Dmitri Khmelnitsky, has been investigating the work of the Russian Embassy and the Russian House in Nicosia. Cyprus Daily News has published their investigations into Russian intelligence officers working in Cyprus under diplomatic cover and into Moscow’s local agents of influence.

In 2025, Khmelnitsky and Demash’s book “Russian Agents of Influence in Cyprus” was published in Berlin. For Moscow’s intelligence services on the island, it was a heavy blow.

Demash has not only exposed the networks of the Russian intelligence services; his investigations have also seriously undermined the Kremlin’s propaganda machine on the island. According to CDN’s sources in the Russian-speaking community, many regulars at pro-Russian events have stopped attending events held by the embassy and the Russian House. Members of the Kremlin’s agent network have scaled back their public activity, and some have stopped it altogether. The reason, they say, is the same: no one wants to come to Demash’s attention and end up in one of his investigations.

He has done considerable damage to the Kremlin’s interests in Cyprus. The Russian Ministry of Justice’s reports are proof of how effective his work is, and the Kremlin’s revenge for it.

In May, Russia’s Ministry of Justice added CDN to the register of foreign agents. The notice states that CDN engages in “political activity” and is “under foreign influence”.

With this notice, the Kremlin’s ministry confirmed the high quality of our work. Moscow has put CDN on its official list of enemies. For an independent publication, this is recognition of its contribution to the fight against the evil empire.

The Russian Ministry of Justice calls Boris Demash the owner of CDN. This is untrue: he has not owned the website since October 2021. The ministry did not check this and had no intention of doing so. Trying to prove anything to the Russian authorities is pointless.

The administrative reports are only the first step. Since 26 October 2025, a single administrative penalty has been enough to open a criminal case under Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code; previously, two within one year were required. The penalty is up to two years in prison, and the trial can be held in absentia. The scheme has been tested on dozens of journalists: a report, a fine, a criminal case, arrest in absentia, a wanted notice.

“If they have come after me, it means the order came from the top,” says Boris Demash. “I have no doubt that FSB Lieutenant General Zyazikov, who is here on our island pretending to be an ambassador, had a hand in it.”

Reports, fines and in-absentia sentences handed down by Russian courts have no force in Cyprus or the European Union.

Boris Demash continues his work.