Journalist Ekaterina Tkacheva, who was questioned in connection with the Revolt Centre case, has left Russia.

Ekaterina Tkacheva, a journalist from Kaliningrad who collaborates with SOTAvision, has left Russia after a search and interrogation. This was reported by SOTAvision itself.

On 8 July, searches took place across Russia targeting many activists and journalists, among them Tkacheva. The investigative actions were part of a criminal case on state treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code) against the founder of the Revolt Centre, a cultural space in Syktyvkar (a city in the Komi Republic, north-west Russia), and former director of the outlet 7×7, Pavel Andreyev. Andreyev himself is believed to be currently outside Russia.

Tkacheva said that according to a court order, the search was supposed to take place on 17 July, but in reality, the authorities arrived on 8 July. During the investigation, her phone, bank cards, and laptops were seized. Afterwards, she was taken for questioning under the pretext of an “interview” at the local FSB office, where she was asked about Pavel Andreyev and the Revolt Centre.

“The interrogation lasted eight hours. The investigator asked me why I don’t love my homeland, why I ‘get involved’ with political prisoners, and what I think about the ‘special military operation.’ I explained that actually, I do love my homeland; I ‘get involved’ with people in custody because I want to help those worse off than me, and that war and death are terrible. At one point, I started to feel unwell, literally nauseous. They took me to the toilet, and I began vomiting water out of nerves—I hadn’t eaten anything all morning. An FSB officer gave me three sweets and three biscuits, which made me feel slightly better,” SOTAvision quoted the journalist as saying.

From her conversation with the FSB officer, Tkacheva concluded that her phone calls had been tapped, as the official seemed to know a lot of personal information about her.

Tkacheva has reported for SOTAvision from the trials of political prisoners in Kaliningrad—Igor Baryshnikov, Mikhail Feldman, and Maria Boncler. After the detention of Boncler, Tkacheva began to fear criminal prosecution herself.