The two were ordered held in custody for two months as a preventive measure, according to the press service of the Moscow courts.
News of a criminal case against Sindeyeva first surfaced on August 17, when TASS reported it, citing an unnamed law enforcement source. There was no confirmation at the time.
According to case materials, the TV Rain channel operates through the legal entity TVR Studios B.V. In 2023, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office designated SIA TV Rain (Latvia) and TVR Studios B.V. (Netherlands) as "undesirable." The agency cited their dissemination of material from "extremist and terrorist organizations, foreign agents," the "discrediting" of the authorities, and the spread of "unreliable information about the special military operation."
Law enforcement officials said the report document described the channel's activities as: "Independent and objective coverage of all major events in Russia, including the broadcast of daily news in Russia, the production and broadcast of original programs and the dissemination of news about Russia, including via cable broadcasting channels, streaming internet broadcasting, mobile applications and Smart TV."
Natalya Sindeyeva is the channel's founder and former general director. In 2024 she handed the general director post to Mark Ten, who had previously headed the Sports.ru project, and became chair of the board of directors, remaining TV Rain's main shareholder.
Earlier this summer, an in-absentia arrest was ordered against TV Rain host Mikhail Fishman under a criminal article on participation in an "undesirable organization." Besides Fishman, Sindeyeva and Ten, other employees of the channel are being pursued in absentia under articles on military "fakes" and violations of requirements for "foreign agents."
TV Rain editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko received eight years in a penal colony in absentia on charges of spreading "fakes" about the Russian army and violating the law on "foreign agents." Host Ekaterina Kotrikadze received eight years in absentia in a case concerning military "fakes" and failure to fulfill the duties of a "foreign agent." Journalist Valeria Kichigina was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in a case concerning military "fakes," and host Valeria Ratnikova to 7.5 years in absentia on the same charge.