Andrey Kichev, a RusNews outlet journalist from the Russian city of Arkhangelsk, was handed an enlistment notice in the police van he had been taken to after having been detained during a protest; he was later expelled from his college, reports media outlet RusNews, citing Kichev himself.
On 24 September, the journalist was detained at a protest against mobilisation in Arkhangelsk. According to the outlet, he was handed an enlistment notice, in which it was stated he had to come into a military enlistment office on 30 September, in the police van; he was also threatened with a potential criminal case being opened against him. Today, Andrey received a call from a manager of the waterways college he was studying at; he was told that he had been expelled on the principal's orders.
The principal claimed that the reason for expulsion was the fact that Kichev did not attend the “patriotic” class Important Conversations. However, Kichev previously submitted a signed document to the principal’s office, in which he had written that he would not be attending the class, as was his right in accordance with the federal law on education; back then, the principal accepted the document, RusNews reports.
Furthermore, editor-in-chief of RusNews Sergey Aynbinder reported on Monday that he had been detained and beaten during his coverage of the protests in Dagestan’s Makhachkala. “I was beaten up, they broke and took away all my equipment. Among the detainees, many have also been beaten up,” a post on RusNews’ Telegram channel states.
