Alexei Frolov

Affiliated media: Novaya Gazeta Ryazan, Editor-in-chief

Incident date: January 31, 2025

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Mediazona

Location: Russia, Ryazan oblast, Ryazan

Additional information:

Journalist Alexei Frolov was detained on January 30 on suspicion of extorting 1.2 million rubles from the acting head of the Ryazan Capital Repair Fund, Alexei Rogotovsky, in exchange for “ceasing negative publications” about the official. Security forces believe that Frolov was involved in the extortion along with the editor-in-chief of the local publication Vid Sbochu, Konstantin Smirnov, who is also the chairman of the Ryazan branch of the Yabloko party, and journalist Natalya Smolyaninova. The court sent Frolov and Smirnov to pre-trial detention, while Smolyaninova was placed under house arrest.