Sheep in press vests outside the offices of Novaya Gazeta in Moscow.
The display might look cute, but it's no petting zoo.
Instead, its part of the latest scare campaign against the opposition newspaper.
Just a few days before, the journalists received a severed sheep's head and a funeral wreath
addressed to the editor-in-chief and the journalist Denis Korotkov.
Korotkov has worked for Novaya Gazeta from St. Petersburg since September.
Even in this Café in the center of the city he worries about surveillance.
On the internet he has been accused of being a traitor.
The wave of online hate is connected to his investigation into the dealings of Putin's
cohort Evgeny Prigozhin.
He is allegedly behind the so-called troll factory, which pays people to promote the
Kremlin's interests online - and behind a controversial Russian mercenary group.
"They put my addresses on the internet, information about my relatives, about members of my family
- and they openly discuss online about what to do to me.
Can I say that I find that pleasant and enjoyable?
Of course I don’t.
But do I feel a certain satisfaction, because these threats mean that I wrote the right
thing?
Yes."
Korotkov's colleagues in Moscow at their daily planning conference.
The newspaper is one of the last truly critical media outlets in Russia.
For over 25 years Novaya Gazeta has been highly regarded for its investigative articles into
corruption and human rights abuses.
For years now, the journalists here have felt the restrictions on press freedom in the country
tighten.
Six of the paper's journalists have paid for their reporting with their lives.
- Including Anna Politkovskaya.
She was murdered in 2006.
Politkovskaya was known for her critical reporting about the conflict in Chechnya.
An element of fear has become part of everyday life at Novaya Gazeta.
“Our newspaper has lost as many journalists as if we were reporting during wartime – even
though Russia is not at war.
It's like working in a minefield.”
"If you had to choose whether they should send a sheep's head or come without warning
and murder someone, then I'd rather have a severed sheep's head every single day."
The Head of the Russian Journalists' Union on the other hand, says the bigger picture
when it comes to press freedom in Russia is positive.
"I think in Russia both the journalists and the government are still learning how to communicate
with each other.
And even though there are problems, there is overreach, there are violations that verge
on censorship, nevertheless the situation overall is improving.
And, internationally speaking, the situation in Russia is decent."
But to Denis Korotkov, his work certainly feels dangerous.
He sees the risk as a given, a normal part of his investigative reporting that he is
willing to accept.
Though it has meant that even his daughter has been threatened.
"I am interested in uncovering stories that you can't see with the naked eye.
Things that aren't right on the surface.
Dealings that are secret are usually criminal dealings.
Of course, when you do this work you can take on airs of "nothing can stop me."
But of course I have my limits.
And God forbid if my opponents ever sound out what those limits are."