On 28 December 2023, multiple journalists were detained by police at a court in Moscow, where they were awaiting a verdict in the case of a group of activists accused for statements critical of the war in Ukraine.
According to independent Russian online media, police detained SOTAvision correspondent Yevgeny Kurakin, MSK1 reporter Arina Mayorova, RusNews correspondent Anastasia Shtelvag, as well as an unnamed reporter for Telegram channel SHOT. MediaZona also reported on the detention of an unknown number of correspondents for pro-Kremlin TV channel NTV and online news website Life, however these outlets did not confirm the detentions.
According to reports, all journalists detained at the Tversky district court were placed in a police car, but were released soon after, with the exception of Kurakin, who was taken to a local police station. Shtelvag was detained a second time in Moscow already after having left the area, following which she was taken to a police station. She was released before the end of the day with charges of violating Russian laws on public protests. It was unclear whether she was later fined on these charges. Kurakin was later sentenced to 30 days of jail on charges of violating the same laws on protests, which ban any events with more than one participant if they are not explicitly permitted by authorities.