On 18 June, the Basmanny District Court in Moscow held a closed trial and placed Kriger in pre-trial detention until 18 August. The journalist challenged the decision of the Court and demanded that the hearing be held in public.

Earlier, the police came to ransack Kriger's apartment, took away his electronic devices and interrogated his brother. 

SOTAvision said that Kriger insisted on not leaving Russia despite warnings about "obvious risks" and stated that the authorities' allegations against him were untrue.

In the past three months, at least five journalists, including Kriger, have been arrested on charges of extremism. In late April, journalists Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin were arrested for "extremism" following their alleged work with Navalny's FBK. In March, Kriger's colleague working for SOTAvision, journalist Antonina Kravtsova, and RusNews special correspondent Olga Komleva were jailed on similar charges for their coverage of the trial of Navalny and face up to six years in prison. 

Since Russia launched a full-scale war in Ukraine, it has massively censored and detained journalists that have criticised it and other dissidents.

The IFJ and the EFJ urge the authorities to release all journalists who have been unfairly imprisoned and to stop using baseless charges to clamp down on journalists and media. "We stand in full solidarity with Artem Kriger and journalists in Russia who are being repressed by the Kremlin, whose aim is to silence dissenting voices. We urge the Russian authorities to respect journalists’ rights and ensure their safety and health while upholding the principles of press freedom and human rights.”