Media reports in Russia say police have searched the homes of several journalists in different parts of the country, a move that may be linked to fugitive former lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov, who currently resides in Ukraine.
After Russia launched its ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Ponomaryov joined Ukraine's territorial defense group and created two YouTube channels -- February's Morning and Rospartizan (Russian Guerilla), through which he has called on Russian citizens to be armed and fight against their authorities at home.
Russia's Investigative Committee launched a probe against Ponomaryov, accusing him of discrediting Russia's armed forces.
The RIA Novosti news agency quoted law enforcement sources on September 8 as saying that police searched the homes of administrators of Ponomaryov's YouTube channels.
The pro-government URALLIVE Telegram channel reported that police in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg broke into the apartment of a local journalist, Vladislav Postnikov, who was not at home at the time.
According to the channel, police in the Siberian city of Tyumen also searched the home of journalist Yulia Glazova, who used to contribute to RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities project. The channel said the searches were part of a probe launched against Ponomaryov, whom Russian authorities accuse of calling for terrorist attacks to be carried out inside the country.
The OVD-Info human rights group said on September 8 that police in the southwestern city of Rostov-on-Don searched the home of journalist Bella Nasibyan, citing Nasibyan's friend as saying the search is linked to the probe against Ponomaryov.
The 47-year-old Ponomaryov was the lone lawmaker in the parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, who voted against Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
He fled Russia for the United States in 2014 and later moved to Ukraine, where he has lived since then.