“Journalist Nika Novak, who was sentenced to four years in prison by a Russian court for cooperation with the Radio Liberty media corporation, disappeared from correctional colony No. 11 in the Irkutsk region of the Russian Federation.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Nika Novak. Photo: Committee to Protect Journalists Source: BBC Russian service with reference to the prisoner’s lawyer Yulia Kuznetsova
Details: The defense attorney reported that last week she was not admitted to the protective custody in the colony IK-11. At the same time, the letters sent by Novak began to be returned to the senders with a note that the addressee had “dropped out” of the institution. Where exactly the prisoner could be staged, the administration of the colony did not inform.
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“What happened to Nika is unknown,” says the lawyer.
According to the lawyer, the last months of her stay in the colony were accompanied by pressure on the journalist. Since August, Novak complained about threats and systematic pressure. She repeatedly announced a hunger strike in protest against the conditions of detention. In addition, the journalist reported on provocations by her cellmate.
Novak became the first Russian journalist to be convicted of an article about “confidential cooperation” with a foreign organization.
She was sentenced to four years in prison for her work with the Radio Liberty project – “Sibir.Realii”. Both media resources have been declared “foreign agents” by the Russian authorities.
Russia ranks second in the world for the number of imprisoned journalists: according to the latest report Committee for the Protection of Journalists, as of 2025, at least 28 journalists were in Russian prisons.