"As if it never happened"
How civil activists are being "cleansed": one city's example
The past year has deprived Ryazan residents of their last independent media outlets and neutralized urban preservationists.
Over the past quarter century, more than a dozen public organizations, movements, and initiatives have emerged and been destroyed in Ryazan. Some disintegrated under the pressure of external circumstances—they were forced out of their premises, their employees were fired, and they were prosecuted under charges that suggested no political motive. Other organizations were outright banned, labeled "foreign agents." Still others quietly disbanded. Of the independent publications, two remained, one of which remained in print until its very end, and the Ryazan branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK). Both provided insight into the reality of life in Ryazan. Criminal cases were opened against all of them.
The chronicle of the "cleansing" is in the material of "NeMoskva".
“Why don’t you listen to your people?”
Open the governor's page Pavel Malkov On VKontakte or a Telegram channel, posting about their troubles, problems at home, in their yard, in public transportation, power and heating outages, and the lack of a school or clinic within walking distance—that's how many Ryazan residents start their mornings. There's nowhere else to complain: officials respond with formal replies, and a personal meeting with the governor is called. don't get caughtSometimes relevant agencies respond to complaints under Malkov's posts, but more often than not, these "cries from the heart" remain unanswered. People have become accustomed to this—it's just that there's no longer a single institution protecting their rights, and a plea for help on the governor's page offers a glimmer of hope, albeit a faint one.
Just ten years ago, people thought they could write to a major publication, they'd publish a story about the problem, and the government would listen and fix it. But the "problem" media outlets disappeared one after another; just a year ago, there were only two left in the region: Ryazan's Novaya Gazeta and Vid Boko.
"The old town is gone, just new buildings, built haphazardly. Businesses are being built in residential areas, and the whole of Ryazan stinks.";
"Children's Library No. 11 on Chkalov Street is closing. There are two schools and three kindergartens nearby. Children are left without books and without knowledge.";
"The people have been driven to the brink of turning to the president with questions about the illegal construction of a pig farm. The Ryazan region is groaning under the weight of these pig farms. Why don't you listen to your people, Pavel Viktorovich?";
"Engels 7, an old woman fell. The ambulance can't get through. It's a complete disgrace. The management company isn't responding. They're not clearing the snow.".
These are real comments on the governor's page. These are the very topics that the last two independent publications would have surely covered, but they no longer exist. Nor are the public organizations that defended human rights in various areas for a couple of decades.
"In 2025, it became known that criminal prosecutions had been initiated against at least 81 Russian journalists. Compared to 2024, the number has increased significantly: 45 new cases were recorded against employees of Russian-language media."
From a report by the Center for the Defense of Mass Media
The "Movement" of Past Years
The city has always had an independent public movement. The Ryazan branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK) was established in the late 1960s. The Ryazan branch of the historical, educational, and human rights society "Memorial" opened in 1989.School of Human RightsDuring the classes, students studied the Constitution, learned about their rights, and how to protect them within the law. In 2006–2008, motion "In Defense of the Ryazan Kremlin," which attempted to oppose the transfer of the Kremlin complex to the Russian Orthodox Church. At the same time, a group was active against the development of a former resort village 20 kilometers from the town of Solotchi, where houses were being built under the guise of vacation and health resort apartments. Educational "Lectures on the Grass" were held, and the "Voice" movement of independent election observers included dozens of regular activists. One of the most active animal rights movements in the country was organized in Ryazan, which succeeded in closing the municipal "killing station" for stray dogs and opening a shelter. In Ryazan, vigorous efforts were underway. supported the During the truckers' protest against the "Platon" surcharge system, Navalny's headquarters was active, mobilizing young people. While not exactly vibrant, public life was certainly noticeable.
Novaya Gazeta covered the work of social activists for nearly a quarter of a century, and the online newspaper Vid Boko (Side View) covered the same topics for 12 years. In early 2025, Novaya Gazeta ceased publication following the arrest of its editor-in-chief, Alexei Frolov. Vid Boko (Side View) publishes one story a day following the arrest of its editor-in-chief, Konstantin Smirnov.
Independent election observers, keepers of the memory of the repressed, and environmental activists were “removed from the field” even earlier.
Arrested journalists
At the end of 2024, a surge in civic activism occurred in the Ryazan district: people protested against municipal reform, primarily against the dissolution of village councils. Village councils of deputies were the last self-government institution that people could still influence and elect deputies by direct vote. Konstantin Smirnov, as editor and leader of Yabloko and a member of the Dubrovichi rural settlement council of deputies, was one of the first to do so. explained, what the upcoming municipal reform will mean for villagers: people with their problems will become completely useless. He published open appeal to the deputies with a call to think carefully about who benefits from the destruction of rural settlements.
The municipal deputies of Dubrovichi rural settlement were the first refused Support municipal reform. Then they got scared and voted to dissolve themselves. However, in the Zaokskoye, Listvyanskoye, and Podvyazyevskoye settlements, no one voted in favor of liquidation. Before the public hearings in the Dyadkovskoye rural settlement, the authorities came to their senses and brought in public sector employees, but even then, two people voted in favor. On January 29, Smirnovsent to the prosecutor of the Ryazan region To Dmitry Kodanev A complaint about violations committed by the authorities during the process of merging rural settlements into a district. On the night of January 31, he was detained in Moscow, where he and his wife were attending a performance.
A day later, Novaya Gazeta editor Frolov was also arrested. Both are charged with "extortion on an especially large scale"—they allegedly demanded money from the head of the Ryazan Capital Repairs Fund to retract defamatory publications. Alexey RogotovskySmirnov did not admit guilt, and for almost a year is in the pre-trial detention center, Frolov's preventive measure was changed to house arrest - he pleaded guiltyIt is believed that Frolov made a plea deal due to multiple health problems. Rogotovsky, two months after the arrest of his "offenders." left his post, now he is an advisor to the general director of the Ryazan Region Development Corporation.
“In 2025, criminal cases under Article 163 of the Russian Criminal Code were opened against at least six journalists (in 2024, we recorded only one such case).
The most high-profile case was against the head of the Novaya Gazeta-Ryazan newspaper, Alexei Frolov, the editor-in-chief of the online newspaper, Vid sboka, Konstantin Smirnov, and an employee of the Krai Ryazansky television channel, Natalia Smolyaninova.
From a report by the Center for the Defense of Mass Media
Both publications were the only ones in the region that had no contractual relationships with government agencies or large enterprises, and their agendas were not influenced by the "ministry of truth"—the Ministry of Press of the Ryazan Region (renamed the Ministry of Territorial Policy). They did not report on economic breakthroughs or the positive impact of large industrial enterprises on the city's environment. The publications did cover problems. spot development, sucking discounted essential drugs, troubles pensioners and much more. In May 2023, Roskomnadzor blocked the website of the Ryazan Novaya Gazeta without warning or explanation, but publications continued to appear on its Telegram channel. The Ryazan Novaya Gazeta was one of the last independent publications that continued to publish in print and was accessible to pensioners. Publication ceased in February 2025.
So the city was left without independent publications.
Unwanted urban preservationists
The work of the Ryazan branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK) activists was sometimes covered not only by local but also by federal media. For example, the fight for Yesenin's places, whose viewing has become difficult due to the development of cottages. Heritage activists have repeatedly blocked local government plans to develop the area around the Ryazan Kremlin, as well as other historical sites. It's quite possible that their proactive stance has ensured that Ryazan remains a city where the Kremlin can be seen from afar, sometimes even from remote neighborhoods. VOOPIiK activists gave the former governor a hint. To Nikolai Lyubimov to grant the city center the status of a historic settlement to avoid high-rise development. With the arrival of the governor in the region Pavel Malkov Heritage activists are once again forced to call for the protection of Yesenin's sites and the Ryazan Kremlin:
"Let's protect the Ryazan Kremlin from the encroachments of the construction oligarchy, working in cahoots with government officials! The State Inspectorate for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of the Ryazan Region has posted a report on the historical and cultural assessment of the project permitting high-rise development on the Oka River floodplains around the Kremlin on its website."- Exhortation dated December 26.
"Today marks the centenary of the death of the great Russian poet [Sergei Yesenin]. This year, developers, under the auspices of Ryazan Region Governor Malkov, are attempting to reduce the boundaries of the protected area of the S.A. Yesenin Estate in the village of Konstantinovo by a factor of 16."- message dated December 28.
In 2022, urban preservationists joined the fight against the large residential complex "Okskaya Strelka", which is being built on the site of a former railroad tie impregnation plant. Activists claimed the residential complex would block the Kremlin from the Oka River floodplain and pose an environmental hazard to new residents.
A campaign has begun against them in the Internet space and some editions. At the Chairman of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments Andrey Petrutsky suddenly conducted a search as part of a criminal case for defamation (Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in VKontakte posts about a development company. After some time they came to search to his deputy To Igor KochetkovGovernment-controlled publications soon published series of notes, claiming that VOOPIIK is allegedly connected with extremists.
Igor Kochetkov published a post With explanations on criminal defamation cases. Inconsistencies were found. For example, according to the Russian Criminal Code, it is impossible to inflict moral harm on a legal entity (the construction company "Green Garden - Rowan Grapes"); such harm can only be inflicted on an individual. Furthermore, a complaint from those "morally harmed by defamation" was filed with the police in the Ryazan district, to which neither the developer nor the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK) have any affiliation. However, the police ignored this and opened a case, which was later accepted in court.
A NeMoskva journalist managed to speak with an employee of a government-controlled media outlet. He spoke on condition of anonymity: until recently, even the government-run publication Ryazanskie Vedomosti reported on the organization's activities. This was an unspoken signal: the authorities were loyal to the organization. The protest against the Green Garden residential complex changed everything.
Now, "government-aligned" Ryazan publications will "expose" and "expose" urban preservationists, and there are no more independent media outlets. There are also foreign-agent publications, through which it's also impossible to convey the truth to the public—they'll immediately point the finger. The All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK) has simply shut down all channels of publicity, as if they don't exist. This also happened because the city's General Plan for the coming decades will soon be adopted. It includes development plans for literally everything: the area around the Trade City and the Ryazan Kremlin, the city's central streets, part of Lybedsky Boulevard, green recreation areas—high-rise buildings are even permitted on the beach of Orekhovoye Lake. - the source said.
He also pointed out an interesting coincidence: at the same time as the searches began at the leadership of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments in the city, as if out of nowhere appeared A community that plans to "revive wooden Ryazan." The plan is not to protect historical sites and buildings, but to save the window frames.
A source for NeMoskva previously worked for the Ryazan-based Novaya Gazeta. In a conversation with our correspondent, he noted that 10-15 years ago, even existing websites wrote articles on current issues, "directly pointing out not just the fusion of government and business, but the government's dependence on big business."
And little by little, the agenda began to shift, replacing "hot" stories with interviews with construction company directors whose new buildings had been protested in inappropriate locations by activists, and with officials who were later convicted of theft and brought to trial. It was probably impossible to even tie "Vid sboka" and "Novaya Gazeta" to the status of a foreign agency, so the authorities and security forces took a different approach. But let's be honest: both publications were already down to one or two journalists: finding funding was impossible, and the journalists had scattered. Some had long since emigrated, while others had moved into other fields—creative, but less dangerous.
Latest "Media"
And in Malkov's Telegram channel, it's the same old story. calls to pay attention on the problems of the city and districts.
"Yesterday, unknown people began setting up a market stall on a playground. Explain to me what right this construction is being allowed without the knowledge of residents, especially on a playground?!";
"And for the restoration of Lsummer club "Is anyone keeping an eye on the Lower Garden? They're barbarically knocking down the carvings, and now the veranda has collapsed... Have they decided to completely eradicate wooden architecture from the city? Ryazan doesn't need them?"
"I'm wondering when the power will be restored in the Klepikovsky district? We've been without power since January 9th [the question was written on January 15th]. This is an emergency!".
There are from several dozen to several hundred and even up to a thousandOccasionally, Ryazan residents try to appeal to Putin, but fear obstacles and police harassment.
Social media and Telegram channels have become "independent media." Interestingly, in Ryazan, the governor's page has become one. Pavel Malkov on VKontakte and his Telegram channel. In the comments, people describe what upsets them: the spot development of courtyards, the construction of warehouses in suburban private housing, the sale of five district centers for pig farms, the rotten housing and utilities system, and the poor roads. "Spot protests" continue, as evidenced by the mass appeals to Putin's direct line. Yes, it may be a naive and ineffective form of protest, but it exists., — the former Ryazan journalist expressed his point of view.
This "media" is accessible to both authors and readers. For now, it's accessible. For example, in the Belgorod region, it's possible to express complaints about the authorities on social media. it became dangerous - governor Vyacheslav Gladkov He called the dissatisfied "provocateurs" and "internal enemies." And from such "titles" to criminal cases and imprisonment is a stone's throw.
The chronicle of arrests and imprisonments of Russian journalists and bloggers can be studied in our database "Journalism under investigation».
