Mstislav Pismenkov

Affiliated media: 7x7, Journalist

Incident date: February 8, 2023

Attack type:

• Short-term detention

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Mediazona

Location: Russia, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Verkhnyaya Salda

Additional information:

The police detained journalist Mstislav Pismenkov in the town of Verkhnyaya Salda, Sverdlovsk Region. According to him, the claim from law enforcers to him was formulated as «why are you going around, filming, asking questions». Pismenkov’s colleagues said that he was «preparing sketches» about the life of the region’s towns and interviewed residents about how their lives had changed after the war with Ukraine began. During his detention, Pismenkov tried to reach for his phone a couple of times, but the law enforcers threatened him that they would «break his hands and put him away for a long time» if he did so. The journalist was forced to write an explanatory note and unlock the computer from which the police had copied a folder with materials about Verkhnyaya Salda. Pismenkov was released from the police without a report.