Russia: Multiple Journalists Detained While Covering Memorials for Alexei Navalny

Journalists, mourners, and activists apprehended by law enforcement nationwide

Location: Russia
Date: February 17-18, 2024

Women Press Freedom stands resolute in its condemnation of the recent detentions of journalists, activists, and mourners across Russia, following the tributes paid to Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who died in prison under dubious circumstances. The apprehension of, among others, RusNews reporters Ksenia Starikova, Yulia Petrova, Elina Kozich, and filmmaker Zosya Rodkevich, underscores a disturbing trend of repression that seeks to silence any form of dissent or challenge to the Kremlin's narrative. Such actions are profoundly troubling, yet hardly surprising given the ever-growing clampdown on free press and dissent in the country. Women Press Freedom vehemently condemns this persistent suppression. It is unacceptable for members of the press to face detainment simply for fulfilling their duty to report on matters of public interest. The intolerance exhibited by the Russian authorities toward any form of challenge to the regime is alarming and only appears to be escalating. This assault on freedom, independent journalism, and the fundamental right to freedom of expression must be denounced in the strongest possible terms.

On February 17, 2024, in Chelyabinsk, RusNews correspondent Ksenia Starikova was detained while filming a man dismantling a spontaneous memorial to Alexei Navalny. The man confronted Starikova, questioning her motives. “Why are you filming? Are you for Navalny? Are you drowning for Navalny? Why are you drowning for him? Please tell me?” he asked the journalist.

The man began filming her on his phone. Starikova explained that as a journalist, she has the right to work in public space. At that moment, she noticed the police were detaining several young people for allegedly fighting. Almost immediately, Starikova was also detained

Russian rights organization OVD-Info said Starikova and the other detainees were taken to police department No. 5 in the Central District of Chelyabinsk. They were told they were being taken there to establish the circumstances of a fight. According to Starikova, there was no fight.

Later the same day, the journalist was released from the police department. Starikova says police took her testimony about the alleged “fight” that she did not see and compiled information about her parents. 

In a similar incident in Moscow, journalist Yulia Petrova was detained while covering a rally in memory of Navalny. Security forces demanded Petrova show her documents and stopped her from recording. She was later released from the police department in the capital. 

Also detained in Moscow were activists and documentarians Zosya Rodkevich (author of the documentary “My Friend Boris Nemtsov”) and Fyodor Kalinin. Kalinin told OVD-Info that at the time of the arrest, they were filming a documentary on Sakharov Avenue. They were taken to the Shcherbinsky police station. Rodkevich was later released and with a caution. 

In St. Petersburg, journalists Elina Kozich and Aleksey Dushutin were detained while covering another memorial event and later released. Security forces also detained people at another monument to victims of political repression — on Voskresenskaya Embankment. According to Rotunda, about 20 people were detained there, including journalists from Kommersant and TV channel 78 (the journalists were later released). Those who did not just leave flowers and leave, but stopped, were taken away in a packed paddy wagon.

Over 300 people were detained in Russia while paying homage to the late opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who died at a remote Arctic penal colony. Reports of violence against detainees, as disclosed by OVD-Info, raise serious concerns about the treatment of those exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly. The lack of transparency regarding court decisions and the ongoing detentions further compound the uncertainty faced by journalists and activists in Russia.

The death of Navalny, aged 47, has dealt a severe blow to many Russians who had placed their hopes for a better future on him, considering him President Vladimir Putin’s most formidable adversary. Despite surviving a nerve agent poisoning and enduring horrific conditions in prison, Navalny continued to voice staunch criticism against the Kremlin. His demise sparked global reverberations, with numerous world leaders pointing fingers at Putin and his administration. President Joe Biden reiterated his belief that Putin bore responsibility for Navalny’s death.

Women Press Freedom condemns the oppression of the Russian authorities against both mourners and press workers covering Navalny’s memorials. Since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it has embarked upon a vicious media crackdown, suffocating independent press by abusing legislation and striking fear into any who oppose the Kremlin through detentions and imprisonment. Navalny, as a popular opposition figure to Putin, represented an alternative vision to the increasingly totalitarian state controlled by Vladimir Putin and his cronies in power - a Russia with free and fair elections, freedom of expression, a country where the press can report without persistent attacks. His loss is devastating for those against the regime. The detentions of those reporting and of those who simply wanted to pay their respects to Navalny and offer condolences to his loved ones is yet another sinister authoritarian tactic to ensure dissent is repressed. The Kremlin's actions represent a grave threat to democratic principles and must be met with unequivocal condemnation from the international community.

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