On 19 November 2023, police in Novosibirsk refused to let several journalists report from a meeting organized by relatives of Russians mobilized into the army and sent to Ukraine, Russian independent media reported. According to local media outlet Courier.Sreda, which quoted witnesses of the event, around 30 relatives gathered at a local public venue to discuss common grievances. The number of police officers and civil servants at the venue was reportedly higher than that of the participants, Courier.Sreda wrote. The media outlet added that all participants were obliged to pass through a metal detector, with police also verifying what was written on the posters that some of the participants had brought.
While state-controlled TV channels VGTRK and OTS were allowed to report from meeting, entry was refused to correspondents from national newspaper Kommersant, local online outlet NGS, REN TV, and “a dozen [unspecified] independent media outlets”, Courier.Sreda reported. Police did not provide a reason for their decision, explaining only that their accreditation requests had been refused, the media outlet wrote.