Marfa Smirnova, a journalist with The Insider, a Russia-focused independent media outlet, says that she has been receiving threats from unidentified individuals on social media over the past few months.
Smirnova received a disturbing wiretap of her family’s Moscow flat, The Insider writes. “The audio recording captured conversations within the apartment, and she was also sent a photo of her family members in a car,” the media outlet notes.
A screenshot from one of the conversations shows an unknown person threatening Smirnova: “Keep writing about things you shouldn’t. And you’ll end up meeting me.”
Up until March 2022, Marfa Smirnova was a host at TV Rain. After the channel was forced to shut down in Russia, she began working for The Insider. Smirnova hosts a news show on The Insider Live YouTube channel and also records podcasts.
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Smirnova was on holiday in Georgia. She chose not to return to Russia. Smirnova’s Instagram shows that she has been to Ukraine twice since the start of the war: in December 2022 and in April 2023. She started receiving threats in April.