On 21 December 2022, police in Yekaterinburg detained and fined Igor Pushkarev, a former journalist at Znak.com, an independent Russian news portal, for “discrediting the Russian army”. Pushkarev currently serves as the director of the history museum of Yekaterinburg.
According to MediaZona, a Russian media outlet, the detention and fine could be linked to anti-war posts Pushkarev made on his social media accounts. These included images with a “no war” slogan.
In his work as a journalist, Igor Pushkarev published several pieces on the Russian mercenary group Wagner. He ceased publications after Znak.com closed operations following the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the introduction in Russia of publication restrictions linked to the war.