‘Putin’ screws to him

Russia editor busted for ‘discrediting’ military

Russian authorities detained and fined the editor-in-chief of renowned independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta over accusations that he “discredited” the military, according to reports.

Sergey Sokolov was arrested outside of his Moscow home and found guilty by Russia’s Center for Combating Extremism of violating wartime censorship laws in court hours later, Novaya Gazeta reported.

Sokolov will pay a fine of 30,000 rubles ($330). If charged again, Sokolov might face jail time.

The paper said the charges — which are “administrative” and are usually punishable by a fine or a short prison sentence — are related to material posted on the outlet’s Telegram channel.

The Telegram post was found in an examination by the authorities to contain “linguistic and psychological signs of verbally discrediting the actions of power structures,” the paper said.

Novaya Gazeta is internationally recognized for its investigations into government corruption and the Chechnya war, with seven of its reporters murdered in alleged connection to their reporting.

Sokolov assumed the role of editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta in November, succeeding Nobel Prize-winner Dmitry Muratov, who had resigned to appeal a “foreign agent” designation by Russian authorities.

Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group, said on X that Sokolov’s detention is “further evidence of the draconian censorship in Russia.”

Sokolov’s case comes two days after a Moscow court sentenced Oleg Orlov — the 70-year-old cochair of Memorial, a group that won a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 — to two years in prison over “repeatedly discrediting” the Russian military.

Russian officials banned Novaya Gazeta in March 2022, weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine.

At the time, the Russian parliament had passed legislation outlawing criticizing the Russian military or spreading “false information” regarding the country’s actions in Ukraine.

Nevertheless, Novaya Gazeta has continued publishing reports through its channel on the messaging app Telegram and on YouTube.

If Novaya Gazeta’s Sergey Sokolov (left) is charged again with violating wartime censorship laws under the regime of President Vladimir Putin (inset), instead of a fine, he might face jail time.