FSB searches home of well-known journalist Valery Potashov
FSB officers came to Potashov's apartement in Petrozavodsk and started to search early Thursday morning.
Outspoken journalist Valery Potashov has worked for several media in Russia’s northwestern Republic of Karelia, including the time when he was editor of Chernika, an independent newspaper shut down in 2017.
“FSB officers conduct a search at the home of independent journalist Valery Potashov,” a short message posted on the Telegram channel From Karelia with Freedom reads.
Potashov was active in the informal journalist network Barents Press until cross-border contacts between reporters in Northwest-Russia and northernmost Scandinavia were halted shortly after the the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
FSB in Karelia has not been available for comments on any reasons for searching the home of Potashov. Nor are there any information published in regional media.
Valery Potashov was not available for comments Thursday morning.
Russia has over the last years ramped up pressure on journalists and media. New laws are introduced aimed at silencing and intimidating any critical articles or independent voices inside Russia.
There are currently 23 journalists in jail in Russia, according to the European Federation of Journalists. Many of them are charged or convicted for violating the laws on extremism, justifying terrorism and discrediting the Armed Forces.
