Overview
- A Moscow judge ordered Oleg Roldugin held until May 10 after Friday's hearing and cited "correspondence with Telegram bots" as evidence.
- Following Thursday's 13-hour search of Novaya Gazeta's Moscow office, police seized equipment and documents and questioned staff who were inside.
- Police say the probe opened March 10 under Article 272.1, a 2024 law that treats the illegal use, transfer, collection, or storage of personal data as a crime.
- Investigators are checking for links to Novaya Gazeta Europe and the Antiwar Committee of Russia, which authorities have labeled undesirable or terrorist.
- The case marks the first known charge against a journalist for allegedly using Telegram "probiv" services—leak-database lookup bots—shifting enforcement from bot operators to newsroom users and raising new risks for investigative reporting.