On 24 January 2024, unknown men in masks attempted to break into the apartment of journalist Vyacheslav Yashchenko in Volgograd, as reported by regional media outlet Caucasian Knot, which Yashchenko works for. The incident occurred nearly a week after police conducted a search at the journalist’s home as part of an investigation into local activist Yevgeny Kochegin, who is accused of disseminating “fake news” about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine.
Only the journalist’s wife was at home at the time of the attempted break in, following which she contacted the police.
Yashchenko’s wife said that masked people first entered the apartment building together with her as she was returning home. When she was already in her apartment, they persistently rang the doorbell, closed the peephole and demanded that the journalist come out to them. At first they called themselves “neighbors”, then “veterans” of the war in Ukraine. Unknown people kicked the door several times, following which the electricity on the entire floor was switched off.
The day before, Yashchenko was subjected to a spam attack, during which he received multiple calls and text messages from microcredit companies. Prior to this, the journalist’s phone was seized during a search and remained with the security forces in an unlocked state.
According to Yashchenko, he currently has the status of a witness in the case against Kochegin. The activist is the former coordinator of the headquarters of the Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny in Volgograd and the leader of the regional anti-war movement Dozor. On September 15, he was included in Russia’s register of “foreign agents” .
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, members of the Dozor movement held protests, and a criminal case was opened against Kochegin for allegedly disseminating “fake news” about the war. The activist left Russia in May 2022. He was later arrested in absentia and put on Russia’s wanted list.
UPDATE: On 27 August 2024, Russian independent media reported that a court in Volgograd demanded that investigators resume their examination of the intimidation attempt which targeted the journalist. This came after investigators earlier refused to open a criminal case linked to the incident. A lawyer for Yashchenko however earlier said in court that he believed this demand was only a “procedural formality”, as reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.