Security forces raided the Moscow newsroom of Novaya Gazeta on Thursday, the Russian newspaper said.

Masked officers arrived around noon and began carrying out searches, the outlet reported on Telegram. "We don't know the reason — our lawyers are being refused entry to the office, where some of our staff are also present," it said.

According to attorney Kaloy Akhilgov, the search at Novaya is being conducted by Moscow's Investigative Committee. Akhilgov himself was turned away from the building after the search was underway, with officers telling him he was "too odious”.

What are authorities investigating?

State news agency RIA Novosti, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the searches may be linked to a case involving the alleged unlawful use of personal data.

According to the Russian Interior Ministry, a criminal case was opened on March 10 over similar charges.

"Investigative activities allowed us to identify a group of individuals who accessed personal data through illegal information resources," the ministry said in a statement, without specifying whom the case targets. It added that security forces had determined that this personal data was being used to prepare articles containing "negative content about Russian citizens”.

“In the course of the investigation, it was determined that in 2025–2026, private data storage resources were queried to obtain citizens’ personal data, which were later used to publish articles on Telegram channels,” the statement said.

At least one detention

Later on Thursday, RIA Novosti reported that Novaya Gazeta journalist Oleg Roldugin had been detained for mishandling personal data and was being interrogated. Roldugin is one of the co-founders of the newspaper Sobesednik, where he wrote about corruption by Russian’s leaders. His stories in Novaya Gazeta have included investigations into the inner circle of Chechnya Governor Ramzan Kadyrov and Russia’s state-run messaging app Max.

Novaya Gazeta's editorial team said it could neither confirm nor deny that the case against Roldugin may be linked to the searches.

"All we know is that on the morning following the search of his apartment, he was taken to the Moscow branch of the Interior Ministry's Main Investigative Directorate for questioning," the outlet said.