A criminal case has been opened against SOTA journalists over their trip to Sudzha, when it was under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Criminal cases have been opened against Sota Project journalists Petr Ivanov and Ruslan Terekhov for illegally crossing the Russian border as part of an organised group (Part 3, Article 322 of the Criminal Code). The outlet reported this itself.

The case was initiated over the correspondents’ trip to Sudzha in August 2024, when the town was under the control of the Ukrainian army. Three Sota Project journalists were working in Sudzha, but the authorities have not identified the third person.

Ivanov’s parents were summoned for questioning today.

31 July: The Ministry of Internal Affairs put Petr Ivanov and Ruslan Terekhov on the wanted list, according to the ministry’s search database. Sota Project drew attention to this.

The journalists live in Lithuania.

30 August: On 29 August, the Leninsky District Court of Kursk (a regional centre in western Russia) arrested SOTA Project journalist Petr Ivanov in absentia under the article on illegal border crossing by a group with prior collusion (Part 3, Article 322 of the Criminal Code).

According to SOTA, the main evidence of the border crossing is a report from Sudzha published on the project’s YouTube channel.

Investigators questioned two witnesses registered in the Sudzhansky district, who reportedly recognised several streets after watching the video.

The case was opened after a complaint from State Duma deputy Oleg Matveychev in March 2025. He wrote to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, also noting that SOTA is funded by Leonid Nevzlin, “a friend and associate of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.”

Petr Ivanov is wanted at the federal, international, and interstate levels. On 28 August, the FSB sent a request for Interpol to place the journalist on its wanted list.

• In August 2024, the Ukrainian army broke through into Kursk Region (in western Russia) and captured several border settlements, including the town of Sudzha. The Russian army regained control of Sudzha in March 2025.
• Previously, the FSB opened criminal cases against journalists working in the Ukrainian-occupied zone, but there had been no Russian citizens among those prosecuted at that time.