PSKOV, Russia -- Police in Russia's northwestern city of Pskov have searched the homes of several politicians, activists, and journalists as part of a probe related to criticism of the regional governor's announcement of the deaths of soldiers from the area during the war against Ukraine.
The opposition Yabloko party said on March 18 that police searched the home of the leader of the party's regional branch, Lev Shlosberg, as well as the residences of party member Nikolai Kuzmin and his parents, RFE/RL's Russian Service contributor Svetlana Prokopyeva, the chief editor of the newspaper Pskovskaya gubernia, Denis Kamalyagin, and activist Yekaterina Novikova.
Lawyer Tatyana Martynova told RFE/RL that the searches were conducted in connection with a lawsuit filed by Pskov Governor Mikhail Vedernikov after an anonymous report on Telegram last week criticized him for praising Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine as he spoke about several soldiers from Pskov who had died in the conflict.
Russian authorities have ordered Russian media and bloggers to only publish information provided by official sources about the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The conflict also cannot be referred to as a war or an invasion, and instead must be called a "special military operation."
