Several journalists quit Russia’s top business paper after it sacks 2 over source-based article

Two journalists have been fired from a major Russian newspaper over an article, based on anonymous sources, about a possible reshuffle in the Senate. The paper's editor-in-chief accused them of breaching editorial standards

Kommersant’s special correspondent Ivan Safronov said on Monday that he and the head of the politics department Maksim Ivanov were told to quit their job by the paper’s shareholders after their article, based on anonymous sources, claimed that Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko is set to leave her post.

The piece, written by Safronov, Ivanov and three other authors, also alleged that Sergey Naryshkin, the current head of Russian intelligence service SVR, might replace Matviyenko.

The controversial report has been refuted by those mentioned in it. Both Matviyenko and Naryshkin for the time being haven’t been transferred to other positions.

On Monday, eleven journalists filed resignations in solidarity with their sacked colleagues. “The shareholder has the right to take staffing decisions, the employees have the right to disagree with them the only way they can – by changing their job,” Gleb Cherkasov, the paper’s deputy editor-in-chief, explained in a Facebook post as he announced his resignation from Kommersant.

Commenting on the resignations, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Vladimir Zhelonkin, denied that he was pressured either by the paper’s owner, billionaire Alisher Usmanov, or by the government. He accused the journalists of breaching editorial standards. In an interview to DW on Tuesday he said that the journalists refused to reveal their sources and he had concerns that they didn’t exist at all.

“Writing articles that are based on nothing… undermines our credibility,” he said via phone.

Usmanov himself learned about the row from the news, his spokesperson told Russian media, adding that the shareholder “does not meddle with the editorial policy and doesn’t decide on firing or hiring journalists.”

Editorial note: The article has been updated to reflect the latest developments.

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