Contact Restored With Imprisoned Russian Journalist Nika Novak After Days of Silence

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Contact has been restored with imprisoned Russian journalist Nika Novak through her lawyer after more than a week of “alarming silence,” Worthy News learned Sunday, easing fears among colleagues and relatives that she had been secretly transferred or harmed in Russian custody.

Novak recently received one of America’s highest press-freedom honors — the National Press Club’s John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, given annually to journalists in the United States and abroad who risk their lives or liberty in pursuit of the truth. The award, named after late National Press Club President John Aubuchon, is the organization’s highest recognition for press freedom.

She had been working as a freelance correspondent for the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). “After nine days of incommunicado detention, contact has been restored with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Nika Novak,” the network confirmed.

Novak, convicted under Russia’s charge of “confidential cooperation with a foreign organization,” has been held in Penal Colony No. 11 in the remote settlement of Bozoy in the Irkutsk region of Siberia.

Prison officials reportedly placed her in solitary confinement after she launched a hunger strike to protest what she described as abusive and degrading detention conditions.

During this period, her family and lawyer were denied access, fueling concern that she had been moved to another facility — fears authorities neither confirmed nor denied, her supporters said.

FIRST JOURNALIST SENTENCED UNDER CONTROVERSIAL LAW

Her mother later received a letter indicating Novak had ended her hunger strike, though she remains worried about her physical condition and the psychological pressure her daughter reportedly faces inside the colony.

Novak has reported “regular intimidation” by prison authorities since the start of her sentence.

She was sentenced in November 2024 to four years in a penal colony, becoming the first journalist convicted under Russia’s new statute criminalizing “confidential cooperation” with foreign organizations.

Rights groups say the law is designed to stifle independent journalism and punish reporters who work with international outlets.

Her forced isolation came just as press-freedom groups celebrated her selection for the Aubuchon Award, which has previously honored jailed or persecuted journalists from China, Myanmar, Egypt, Belarus, and Iran.

CPJ DEMANDS RUSSIA DISCLOSE NOVAK’S CONDITION

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) earlier urged Russian authorities to immediately confirm Novak’s location and guarantee her safety after days without communication.

“Her disappearance raises serious concerns for her well-being and underscores the ongoing risks journalists face in Russia,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia coordinator, Gulnoza Said.

RFE/RL President Stephen Capus added in a statement: “It is deeply alarming that Nika Novak has vanished while in Russian custody… We demand Russian authorities reveal her whereabouts and allow contact with her legal counsel.”

CPJ and nine partner organizations have also urged the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to declare Novak’s imprisonment a violation of international law.

Novak is one of at least 28 journalists currently imprisoned in Russia — the highest number in more than three decades, according to CPJ. Twelve are Ukrainian reporters detained since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

JOURNALISTS DYING IN RUSSIAN CUSTODY

Among them was journalist Viktoria Roshchina, who died in Russian custody in 2024 under circumstances consistent with severe torture, according to medical experts cited by rights groups.

Novak’s case has drawn parallels to that of Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko, who spent more than four years in Russian captivity, enduring electric shocks, beatings, and forced confessions before being freed in June 2025.

Yesypenko, now advocating for imprisoned journalists, told CPJ that Russia’s treatment of the press has become increasingly violent. “Capturing and killing journalists has become a goal in itself,” he said. “The press insignia is a target.”

In remarks seen by Worthy News, he said the international community must remain unified in demanding the release of Novak and all other journalists jailed for their reporting in Russia and neighboring authoritarian states.

Human rights groups, including CPJ, Reporters Without Borders, and several U.N.-affiliated organizations, have demanded that Russia provide full transparency about Novak’s condition and ensure she is not subjected to further retaliation.

NO REPLIES FROM RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES

As of Sunday, Russian authorities had not replied to inquiries regarding Novak’s treatment, health status, or the reasons behind the communication blackout that triggered global alarm.

Yet even if she is freed one day, Yesypenko cautioned, reintegration will not be easy.

He noted that one of the most painful realizations after release is that “life outside continues” without you.

His daughter grew older, his family developed new routines, and the world he returned to was no longer the one he left behind.

“Every prisoner must understand that life goes on without you,” he said. “You won’t return to the life you had. It takes time to adjust.”

He added that learning this truth — and accepting it — is essential for survivors still hoping to rebuild their futures once they are free.

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