Sergei Sokolov was taken to Russia’s Investigative Committee and held in the building for around three hours, despite having been officially summoned for questioning as a witness. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described the incident as a new stage in the pressure on one of Russia’s last independent media outlets.

The international organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the persecution of Novaya Gazeta after the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Sergei Sokolov, was taken to the Russian Investigative Committee on 15 October. His apartment had been searched beforehand.

RSF described the incident as a new stage in the Russian authorities’ “targeted pressure” on the newspaper, which, the organisation said, is one of the symbols of independent journalism in the country.

According to Novaya Gazeta, Sokolov stopped responding to the editorial team at around noon on 15 October, shortly before an editorial meeting he was due to chair. After the search, the journalist was taken to the Investigative Committee, where he spent around three hours and was unable to leave the building.

Sokolov was officially summoned for questioning as a witness in a criminal case concerning the “unlawful use and storage of personal data”. In April 2026, investigative journalist Oleg Roldugin of Novaya Gazeta was arrested as part of the same investigation. He was later placed under house arrest.

“How long will the Kremlin’s attack on Novaya Gazeta continue?” asked Jeanne Cavelier, head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

She recalled that the newspaper had faced the murder of journalists, searches and administrative pressure from the Russian authorities throughout its history.

“Six of its journalists have been murdered, its offices have been searched, and the media outlet itself has been designated a ‘foreign agent’,” RSF said in its statement.

The organisation believes the aim is to deprive the Russian public of one of its last independent sources of information.

“This latest episode is intended to silence one of the last independent media outlets still operating in Russia,” Cavelier said.

RSF called on the Russian authorities to end the prosecution of the newspaper’s journalists.

“We call on the authorities to stop the judicial harassment of the editorial team, including the actions targeting Sergei Sokolov and Oleg Roldugin,” the organisation said.

In April 2026, the newspaper’s Moscow office was searched in an operation lasting more than 12 hours. On 4 September, the Russian authorities designated Novaya Gazeta a “foreign agent”. At the same time, 106 other people associated with the editorial team were added to the register of affiliated individuals.

Sokolov himself has previously been arrested: in 2024, he was detained in a case involving the “discrediting of the armed forces”.

Novaya Gazeta has been published since 1993. The newspaper is known for its investigations and reporting on human rights violations, particularly in Chechnya and other regions of the North Caucasus.

RSF believes the latest developments are part of a broader campaign by the Russian authorities against the independent press.