MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian authorities on Thursday detained journalist Sergei Sokolov, the editor of Novaya Gazeta, on charges of discrediting the army, the newspaper and Russian state media reported.
Novaya Gazeta said in an online report that Sokolov’s detention was over coverage of the Russian army in an article, but did not provide more details.
Russian news agency TASS reported that Sokolov had “posted material on the Novaya Gazeta Telegram channel” which showed “signs of verbal discrediting the actions” of the army.
Sokolov faces a fine of up to 50,000 roubles ($550), TASS and Novaya Gazeta both reported.
Novaya Gazeta is known for its investigations which have sometimes taken aim at the Kremlin, government policy and top officials.
Its former editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel prize winning journalist, stepped aside in September to challenge his designation by authorities as a “foreign agent”, a label Moscow uses to stigmatise and complicate the life of people it deems to be working against Russian state interests.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by John Davison; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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