Russian Telegram channel's head editor formally charged with bribery

Gleb Trifonov, editor-in-chief of the popular Telegram news channel Baza, has been formally charged with bribery.

The charges were confirmed by both his legal counsel and sources familiar with the investigation, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

Trifonov, who has led Baza since 2022, was taken into custody on July 22 following coordinated police raids on his residence and the media outlet’s offices in Moscow. He is being charged alongside Baza producer Tatyana Lukyanova. Both journalists deny the allegations.

“After my client was held for about 20 hours, first outside, then inside the Central Administrative District Investigative Committee building, he was officially charged with bribery,” Trifonov’s lawyer, Alexei Mikhalchik, told media.

Authorities are expected to seek pre-trial detention for both Trifonov and Lukyanova while the investigation proceeds. Mikhalchik has criticized the detention, suggesting it is being used as leverage against his client. “I believe the detention is being used to exert pressure on the journalist,” he said.

Investigators claim Trifonov was involved in a scheme to pay bribes to police officers in multiple Russian regions — specifically Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, and Belgorod — in return for privileged information.

“They received information from law enforcement officers via online messengers about emergency situations and their aftermath, and then transferred money,” a law enforcement source said.

Baza, which boasts more than 1.6 million Telegram subscribers, is known for its extensive use of anonymous law enforcement sources and its close alignment with government narratives. The channel has gained prominence in recent years for breaking news coverage of emergencies and criminal incidents across Russia.

By Vafa Guliyeva