News
Marfa Smirnova, a journalist for The Insider, has been facing threats from unidentified individuals since April this year. They use Telegram to send her intimidating messages, warning her to stop writing and producing journalistic materials, including reports.
Smirnova received a disturbing wiretap of her family's Moscow apartment. The audio recording captured conversations within the apartment, and she was also sent a photo of her family members in a car. It is impossible to publish all the threatening screenshots without exposing the personal data of Marfa Smirnova's family obtained by the attackers.
![“Good evening” — “Do what you want, but don’t touch CW” — “We have your family’s address” — “We know when [censored]”](data:image/jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAAAAAA6fptVAAAACklEQVR4nGNiAAAABgADNjd8qAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==)
“Good evening” — “Do what you want, but don’t touch CW” — “We have your family’s address” — “We know when [censored]” “Good evening” — [Audio recording] — “You didn’t recognize a familiar voice?” — “Who are you?” — “Keep writing about things you shouldn’t. And you’ll end up meeting me” — “I don’t understand what you’re on about” — “Is that so? We know everything”
The threats have extended beyond messages, as the unknown individuals claim to spot her in the news and insist that she change her profession or otherwise face an “unavoidable meeting.” They assert having information about her flights and details about her relatives' whereabouts, even going as far as to claim that she was “seen [by them] today.”