Security forces came to search journalist Oleg Sofyin in the morning of November 3. According to the Simbirsk.City Media Outlet, a criminal case was opened against the journalist after the statement of Vyacheslav Barynin, the head of the governor of Ulyanovsk Oblast’s administration. The exact reason is unknown; Sofyin himself connects the searches with his publications about corruption and problems in the healthcare system of the region. The Simbirsk.City Media Outlet reported the searches.
During the search, the police seized Oleg Sofyin's personal electronic devices. The journalist connects the searches with the conflict that occurred in the regional administration in April. At a personal meeting, governor of the region Alexei Russkikh allegedly told the journalist that he wrote “sh*t” about him in the Kompromat Telegram channel. According to Sofyin, the head of the region allegedly began threatening him and saying that he would "deal with him." The journalist himself said that he had nothing to do with the channel.
Sofyin covers corruption and problems in the healthcare system in the region. In 2012, the former vice-governor of the region sued him for libel. Sofyin said in social networks that after his comments under the official’s posts about the distribution of budget funds, he had begun receiving calls and threats to "breake his skull." The court dismissed the vice-governor’s complaint without satisfaction.
