On 18 May 2023, Russian security forces searched the apartment of Alexander Kalinin, the editor-in-chief of the St. Petersburg-based online media Ladoga.ru. According to Russian media, officials asked Kalinin about his attitude towards Ilya Ponomarev, a former opposition Russian MP who currently lives in exile in Kyiv.
In two videos first published by the Russian state-controlled media RT, people in masks enter the journalist’s apartment and introduce themselves as members of the local criminal investigations department. Kalinin is then asked whether he had participated in the activities of the Congress of People’s Deputies, an assembly of regional and municipal politicians headed by Ponomarev, attempting to create a Russian opposition parliament in exile. According to the journalist, he had indeed provided a comment on elections and human rights in Russia to Ponomarev’s representatives.
Russian security services did not provide information on any charges against Kalinin following the search of his apartment and his interrogation.