Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov detained after search of Moscow home

Editor detained after home search

Novaya Gazeta said that police searched the home of its editor-in-chief, Sergei Sokolov, on 15 October and then took him to the Investigative Committee, Russia's judicial investigating body. The independent paper, which Russian authorities have designated a "foreign agent", said it lost contact with Sokolov around noon, shortly before an editorial meeting he was due to chair. A lawyer was on the way to assist him, according to the paper's Telegram post, and reports did not say where he was being held. NewsIT reported that Sokolov is suspected of discrediting the Russian army, an offence that carries a fine of up to 50,000 rubles (500 euros) if he is found guilty, though the report did not say which article the accusation concerns. Other reports said the reason for his detention had not yet been made public.

Probe into personal data

Sources cited by the Russian outlet RBC said the search was part of a criminal case opened earlier in the spring, and sources cited by the state news agency TASS said the investigation concerns the illegal use of personal data. Baza, a Telegram channel with links to Russian security services, reported that the case names Oleg Roldouguine, an investigative journalist at the paper, and that he was suspected of acting in coordination with Sokolov or on his instructions. The BBC linked the prosecution to an anonymous Telegram channel that published information about private flights by senior Russian officials. Roldouguine had himself referred to those flights in his own investigations, the BBC reported.

Roldouguine and the April searches

Investigators searched the paper's editorial offices in April and detained Roldouguine, a veteran investigative reporter known for revelations about alleged corruption among senior Russian officials. Investigators charged him with the same offence earlier that month, and he denies having illegally obtained or published personal data. Roldouguine was placed under house arrest in early June. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Russian authorities to release him immediately and to stop what it described as a targeted prosecution of Novaya Gazeta.

A newspaper under pressure since 1993

Novaya Gazeta was founded in 1993 by Dmitry Muratov and Mikhail Gorbachev and became known for investigative reporting. Six of its journalists have been killed, including Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, military censorship led to the halt of its print edition, and most staff left Russia in March 2022 to found Novaya Gazeta Europe in Latvia. Russia blocked the website in November 2022 and revoked the media licence in February 2023. Sokolov, who stayed in Russia, was arrested in 2024 and prosecuted for discrediting the armed forces over an article, according to RSF, and he became editor-in-chief in 2025 after Muratov stepped down.