St. Petersburg journalist’s home searched over exiled colleague’s ‘foreign agent’ case

St. Petersburg law enforcement searched the home of journalist Ksenia Klochkova early Friday, local news outlet Fontanka has said.

Klochkova, who freelances for Fontanka, has confirmed that she is a witness in the case brought against her former colleague, exiled Russian investigative journalist Andrey Zakharov, for failing to declare that he was a “foreign agent” in social media posts.

Alexander Gorshkov, Fontanka’s editor-in-chief, said only Klochkova’s home had been searched, and that a lawyer was present. Fontanka suggested there could be increased interest in her for potentially being in contact with Zakharov.

Klochkova had her mobile phone and laptop seized and will be taken for questioning to the Investigative Committee, Fontanka added.

Zakharov, who was branded a “foreign agent” in October 2021 and left Russia shortly after that, worked at Fontanka until 2016. He also formerly worked with the BBC Russian Service and independent investigative outlet Proekt. In November 2023, Zakharov and Proekt released a film documenting the Kremlin’s direct responsibility for starting the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Zakharov lauded Klochkova’s work as “an example of brave and independent regional journalism” on Telegram, adding that she had worked under him at Fontanka. He also wrote that he had learned about the criminal case in the press, calling it “a natural consequence” of his work.