Ivan Safronov, Jr. (30), a former Kommersant and Vedomosti defense correspondent, was arrested by the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) counterintelligence arm, in Moscow, on July 7, 2020, accused of treason (spying for the West and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). After graduating from journalism school in 2010, Safronov worked at Kommersant until the spring of 2019, when he published an article about the possible resignation of Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko (she did not resign). Special correspondent Safronov and editor Maxim Ivanov were forced to step down from Kommersant on May 20, 2019. The paper’s entire politics department and a deputy managing editor resigned in solidarity. Safronov moved on to Vedomosti; but in 2020, the ownership of its publishing house changed hands. Vedomosti is today in deep crisis: many journalists and practically the entire editorial board have resigned to protest censorship. Safronov stepped away from the sinking Vedomosti and, in May 2020, became a top public relations manager for the state space industry corporation Roscosmos and an adviser to its general director, Dmitry Rogozin. On the morning of July 7, Safronov was arrested by FSB agents while preparing to enter his personal corporate limousine.
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Pavel Felgenhauer: Russian journalist community stands up to FSB
Police officers detain a supporter of Ivan Safronov, a former journalist and aide to the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, outside the headquarters of Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB) in central Moscow on July 7, 2020.
