Editor of top independent Russian newspaper detained for allegedly discrediting military

By The Associated Press

The editor-in-chief of the renowned Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta has been detained in Moscow after being accused of discrediting Russia’s armed forces. The newspaper says Sergei Sokolov was detained Thursday by officers from Russia’s Center for Combating Extremism. It says the charges — which are “administrative” and are usually punishable by a fine or a short prison sentence -– are related to an article printed by the newspaper. The date of Sokolov’s hearing is not yet known. Sokolov took the leadership of Novaya Gazeta’s newsroom in September 2023 after the previous longtime editor-in-chief, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, was named a “foreign agent” by Russian authorities.