Berlin, May 9, 2025—Russian authorities should immediately release journalist Veronika Orlova, who was detained Tuesday in Moscow after filming the aftermath of a protest against President Vladimir Putin, and drop all charges against her, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
Orlova, a reporter with the independent news outlet SOTAvision, was in Moscow to cover a Supreme Court hearing and was walking near Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge when she began filming a rescue boat where activist Grigory Saksonov was earlier detained after jumping into the river with a sign that read “Putin–Hitler.” The police detained her 15 minutes later.
“Russian authorities must drop all charges against Veronika Orlova and release her immediately,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Senior Researcher Anna Brakha. “Detaining a journalist for simply filming in a public space is a blatant violation of press freedom.”
Orlova was sentenced to 13 days of administrative detention on charges of “disobeying a police officer,” that she denied. Her outlet and lawyer said that she had no connection to Saksonov’s protest.
Two SOTAvision journalists, Artyom Krieger and Antonina Favorskaya, are currently serving a 5.5-year prison term after being sentenced in April 2025 on extremism charges that they denied.
CPJ filled out a Russia’s Ministry of Interior online form requesting comment, but did not immediately receive any reply.