FSB officers visited the URA.RU editorial office amid an ongoing bribery investigation involving the head of the Sverdlovsk editorial office, Denis Allayarov, and his uncle, Andrei Karpov.

The visit follows searches conducted at the homes of Allayarov, correspondents Sergei Bodrov and Anna Salymskaya, and the publication’s office earlier this week. Allayarov has been charged with bribery under Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

URA.RU claims that Karpov, a former police officer, slandered Allayarov, and that the entire case relies on his testimony. Karpov has signed a pre-trial agreement, and is currently under house arrest.

Allayarov is accused of bribing Karpov, the former head of the criminal investigation department of Police Station No. 10 in Yekaterinburg, with 20,000 rubles for an operational summary. URA.RU maintains Allayarov’s innocence, stating that no evidence of a bribe transfer was found during the searches.

URA.RU believes the actions against them are not an investigation of bribery, but pressure on the editorial office.