FSB officers have detained a journalist who came to Russia to visit their parents.

In Petrozavodsk, a city in north-western Russia, journalist Anna Yarovaya was detained on 26 February after arriving from Finland to visit her parents. She told Barents Observer about the incident.

Yarovaya is a citizen of both Russia and Finland. Before leaving Russia, she reported on the persecution of Karelian historian Yuri Dmitriev and the authorities’ attempts to rewrite the history of Stalinist repressions. Her husband, journalist Gleb Yarovoy, published material on violence in prison colonies in Karelia, and at some point started to receive “signals” of the threat of criminal prosecution. In 2018, the couple moved to Finland.

Yarovaya has made periodic trips back to Russia. After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she wrote about these visits for the Finnish outlet Karjalainen and reported on the militarisation of society. In recent years, Yarovaya has not worked regularly for any media outlets. She is studying in Finland and working on creative projects.

On 25 February, Yarovaya arrived in Petrozavodsk again. The next day, she was detained as she left her parents’ home. A minibus was parked by the entrance, from which armed, masked men ran out. They twisted Yarovaya’s arm behind her back—the one holding her phone.

The journalist was taken to her parents’ flat for a search of the premises—an operational measure that is carried out before a criminal case is opened. The officers said they had received an anonymous tip-off about Yarovaya.

“Apparently someone reported that I am an agent of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service. They said they would just inspect the flat and then release me. I told them: everything they want to know is openly available on the internet. Why all this—twisting my arms, machine guns, masked men? I’m not a criminal, not a terrorist. They replied: ‘It’s our job,’” the journalist said.

The officers confiscated her laptop and phone. After the search, FSB personnel read out a protocol concerning the verification of information about Yarovaya’s possible collaboration with Finnish intelligence services, which could be classified as high treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code).

“When the officers mentioned high treason and 12 years, the scariest thing for me was the thought that I might never see my children again. I understood my parents, who, during the search, pleaded: ‘Take us instead.’ I wasn’t scared for myself or my husband, but I was terrified that I might not see my children,” Yarovaya said.

She was then taken to the FSB building, where she was questioned for two hours. The officers were mostly interested in whether Finnish intelligence had tried to recruit her.

“They asked if I’d filled in any forms or participated in any surveys. I’ve never done anything of the sort, and naturally, that’s what I told them,” Yarovaya said.

She was also questioned about articles she wrote for the Finnish outlet about travelling to Russia, and about other journalists who have emigrated.

At the end of questioning, the officers wanted to know whether Yarovaya knew the definition of the article on high treason. One of the FSB officers read it out, then printed it off and handed it to the journalist.

“He read the paragraph stating that a person who has committed actions that could be interpreted as high treason, but who reports this to the FSB, is released from liability. ‘So, if you remember anything, call the duty desk,’” Yarovaya recalled.

Two days later, the journalist left Russia. “They made it clear my presence in Russia was undesirable, but I was given the opportunity to leave,” she said.

At the border, a guard asked when she planned to return. Yarovaya replied that she did not know. “Alright then. I’ll note that down. That’s all, I have no more questions,” he told the journalist.