On 28 September 2023, Russian independent media reported that a court in Abakan, the capital of the Siberian region of Khakasiya, had liquidated Novy Fokus, a local media outlet previously run by editor Mikhail Afanasyev, who had recently been sentenced to 5.5 years of penal colony on charges of publishing what the Russian government claims is “fake news” on the war in Ukraine.
According to to the court, Novy Fokus would have published materials which were designated as “extremist” throughout 2018 and 2019.
On 7 September 2023, a court in Abakan sentenced journalist Mikhail Afanasyev to five years and six months of prison on charges of disseminating what the Russian government claims is “fake news” about the war in Ukraine. Afanasyev was initially arrested after publishing an interview with anonymous members of the Russian National Guard in Khakasiya, who said that they had been deployed to Ukraine, where some were wounded. Other members of the National Guard interviewed by Afanasyev said they had refused to go to Ukraine.