Chief Editor Leaves Russia's Vedomosti Year After Censorship Row May 20, 2021 Andrei Shmarov's appointment by Vedomosti's new owners had sparked a mass exodus of senior editors and journalists. Yevgeny Pazumniy / Vedomosti The Vedomosti business daily announced Wednesday that its editor-in-chief Andrei Shmarov will step down one year after his controversial appointment sparked a mass exodus of senior editors and journalists. The decision came a week after VTimes, The Moscow Times’ Russian-language partner founded by the editors and journalists who had left Vedomosti, was declared a “foreign agent” in Russia. The designation puts the independent news site’s future in jeopardy as it risks cratering its advertising budget and steep fines for auditing violations.