Russian security forces search family home of wanted student journalist Leonid Spirin

Russian security forces raided the home of the parents of Leonid Spirin, editor-in-chief of the student media outlet Groza, in Kazan on Tuesday, the publication said.

Spirin’s 79-year-old grandmother was the only person at home during the raid. It was not clear what case the search was part of or what officers were looking for.

Spirin has been wanted in Russia since January 2025, when authorities opened a criminal case against him for repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian army over a comment saying that “Luhansk is occupied by the Russian army.” He currently lives abroad.

He has also been fined 30,000 rubles (€320) twice for violating the rules governing “foreign agents”, over Groza’s failure to submit required reports to the Justice Ministry. The outlet was added to Russia’s “foreign agent” registry in November 2023.

According to the ministry, Spirin “carried out actions aimed at forming a negative image of the Russian Federation” and “promoted an educational foreign organisation that has been designated as undesirable.”

Groza was founded in Kazan in 2020. Its website describes it as “a magazine for students about higher education and the issues that matter to young people in Russia.”