Elena Milashina / CPJ Moscow Correspondent

Elena Milashina is an award-winning, investigative journalist with Novaya Gazeta and a Moscow correspondent for CPJ.

In landmark case, Russia charges alleged mastermind in Domnikov murder

In an unprecedented move, investigators in Moscow officially filed charges today against Sergei Dorovskoi, a former deputy governor of Lipetsk region who is accused of being behind the murder of Igor Domnikov, according to Novaya Gazeta.

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In Russia, media regulator uses warnings to restrict the press

In January, Russia’s state media regulator Roskomnadzor issued warnings to six news outlets that published cartoons from French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Roskomnadzor said the cartoons were “insulting the religious feelings of Muslims and inciting religious hatred,” and that the outlets had broken laws on media and extremism, Russian news agency Tass reported.

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Journalists investigating deaths of Russian soldiers are threatened and attacked

Journalists investigating the deaths of Russian soldiers that news reports claimed were killed during Russia’s alleged involvement in Ukraine’s conflict have been targeted in a series of attacks since late August, according to a press freedom group. Russia has denied that its soldiers were involved in the conflict, but journalists who spoke to the Committee…

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Russia intensifies restrictions on blogs, social media

On August 1, Russia will significantly tighten its grip on blogging and social media conversations and will acquire expanded powers to block Internet services originating abroad. The new authorities, approved by Russia’s parliament in April, buttress existing regulations that have already been used to block several independent news sites, some of which reported on the…

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Despite recent convictions, Anna Politkovskaya’s murder remains unsolved

Nearly eight years after Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in an elevator near her apartment, authorities appear to have made little progress identifying the mastermind behind her murder. Although five men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on June 9 for their roles in the slaying of the Novaya Gazeta journalist, her family…

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Three of the defendants--from left, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, Rustam Makhmudov, and Sergei Khadzikhurbanov--in Moscow's City Court. (AFP/Evgeny Feldman)

Politkovskaya murder trial proceeds with third jury

More than seven years after the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the prominent Novaya Gazeta journalist, a jury is hearing the case against five defendants in the killing. The suspects were first announced in 2011, but proceedings did not begin until July 2013, amid controversy. Three of the current defendants were earlier acquitted of Politkovskaya’s murder…

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Vera (left) and Ilya Politkovsky attend a pre-trial court hearing in June. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)

Politkovskaya murder trial off to poor start

The retrial of several suspects in the October 2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya has started on the wrong foot, according to the family and former colleagues of the late journalist.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is signaling a intensified crackdown on human rights organizations. (AP/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky)

Russia steps up crackdown on rights groups, Internet

Recent statements by Vladimir Putin and Russian Member of Parliament (MP) Aleksey Mitrofanov, as well as raids on human rights organizations, signal that the threat hanging over civil society and freedom of expression in Russia has become reality. Since Putin returned to presidential office in May, the Kremlin has passed a series of restrictive laws…

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Chernovik founder Gadzhimurad Kamalov was killed in December 2011. Investigators have failed to determine the identities of the assailants or the masterminds. (Reuters/Lekai Dmitri)

In Russia, brazen murder of Chernovik founder is unsolved

Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent daily Chernovik, was murdered in Makhachkala, capital of Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan, on December 15, 2011. The slaying was brazen, coming on the national Day of Remembrance for journalists killed in the course of their work. The late-evening assault took place outside Chernovik’s newsroom, located on Makhachkala’s Magomed…

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People holding portraits of Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow on October 7, the 6th anniversary of her murder, call on authorities to punish the killers of journalists in Russia. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Closed trial in Politkovskaya case dashes hopes

The trial of Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a former police lieutenant colonel and a key suspect in the 2006 murder of prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, started at Moscow City Court today under presiding Judge Aleksandr Zamashnyuk. 

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