Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Sergey Sokolov arrested on charges of ‘discrediting’ Russian army

Update: A Moscow court has fined Sergey Sokolov 30,000 rubles ($328) for “discrediting” the Russian army over a Telegram post published by Novaya Gazeta about the Russian Defense Ministry trying to convince orphans to join the war in Ukraine. 

Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Sergey Sokolov was arrested in Moscow by officers from Russia’s Center for Combating Extremism (Center E) on Thursday on misdemeanor charges of “discrediting” the Russian army.

According to the Novaya Gazeta, the charges concern an article printed by the newspaper. Sokolov’s trial date has not been reported.

Sokolov became the head of Novaya Gazeta’s newsroom in September 2023 after the outlet’s previous chief editor, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, was named a “foreign agent” by the Russian authorities.