Siberian newspaper hit with $4,000 fine over calls for anti-Russian sanctions

A court in Russia’s Gorno-Altaysk issued a 300,000-ruble ($4,100) fine to local newspaper Listok, accused of making calls for anti-Russian sanctions, the court’s press service informed.

In early April, head of the Listok publishing house Olga Komarova was summoned by the local prosecutor’s office, where prosecutors filed administrative charges for making calls for anti-Russian sanctions in the newspaper’s March 30 article. In this article, Listok Editor-in-Chief Viktor Rau called on readers to send in the names of Russian officials that expressed support for the war in Ukraine.

On April 11, Komarova and the newspaper were hit with two 100,000-ruble ($1,400) fines and two 300,000-ruble ($4,100) fines.

Listok Editor-in-Chief Sergei Mikhailov was later arrested under Russia’s “fake news” law for publishing articles about the war in Ukraine.