Location: Russia, Moscow
Date: March 28, 2022

At least seven journalists, including three women, working with independent news portal Sota.Vision have been detained since March 7, 2022. Two of them were sentenced to multiple days in prison and others were fined and harrased. The Coalition For Women In Journalism calls on the Russian authorities to cease its censorship of independent media and journalists. Russia, which ranked 150th out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index 2021, intensified its crackdown on the independent press since it launched a full-fledged military invasion into Ukraine last month. 

Since March 7 at least seven journalists, including Elena Izotova, Nika Samusik and Darya Poyadina, working with independent news website Sota.Vision have been detained, fined or harassed. 

The harassment of journalists employed at Sota.Vision began with Gleb Sokolov. On March 7, he was fined 20,000 rubles (US $200) by authorities for an anti-war protest he covered in  Moscow on February 25. Gleb was fined for allegedly violating the procedure for rallies. 

On March 17, journalist Elena’s home was searched and her technical equipment was seized by the authorities.

On March 18, authorities detained Sota.Vision journalists Pavel Ivanov, Ruslan Terekhov, Artyom Kriger, Nika Samusik, and Aleksandr Filippov in Moscow and St. Petersburg ahead of planned rallies in those cities supporting the Russian military. 

Nika, Artyom and Aleksandr were released later that day without charge while Ivanov and Terekhov were charged and convicted of disobeying authorities. 

On March 19, a police officer reached the home of Sota.Vision journalist Pyotr Ivanov in St. Petersburg in connection with his detention at an unsanctioned rally on March 6. Pyotr was then detained and released without any explanation. 

On March 23, Sota.Visions’ editor Darya Poyadina’s home in the northwestern city of Arkhangelsk was searched by Russian Investigative Committee operatives. Darya was subsequently held for more than 12 hours at the Investigative Committee’s office in the city. She was released after she signed a non-disclosure agreement. 

The authorities reportedly interrogated Darya as a witness in a criminal case against opposition leader Alexei Navalny for his alleged creation of an “extremist community”. 

Sota.Vision’s editor Aleksey Obukhov told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that during the search, authorities seized Darya’s equipment and press card, as well as about 100,000 rubles in savings.

Two days later, on March 25, a freelance contributor with Sota.VIsion, Aleksandr Peskov was briefly detained for allegedly insulting law enforcement, reported Sota.Vision.  

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned about the Kremlin’s increased crackdown on the independent press and its attempts to control channels of information. We stand in solidarity with Elena Izotova, Nika Samusik, Darya Poyadina and their colleagues at Sota.Vision and denounce the legal proceedings against them. We laud our brave colleagues in Russia who are striving to bring the truth to the world despite heightened censorship.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.