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Russian Journalist Detained Following 'Federalization' Interview


Russian police have detained journalist Dmitry Shipilov hours after the publication of his interview with an advocate of greater autonomy for Siberian provinces.

Shipilov's colleague, Anton Ivanov, wrote on Facebook that Shipilov was detained at a railway station outside Moscow on September 11.

Earlier in the day, the newspaper Novosti Kuzbassa published Shipilov's interview with Artyom Loskutov, an organizer of a march for the "federalization" of Siberia that was planned for August but was banned by authorities and never took place.

Several organizers of the abortive march were fined and one, Darya Polyudova, was arrested this month and charged with propagating extremism and separatism via the Internet.

Russian officials have called for the "federalization" of Ukraine, to give more authority to mainly Russian-speaking regions, but the Kremlin is sensitive about any efforts to decentralize power in Russia.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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