Immigration police raided the office of Russia’s independent investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose staff first learned of the raid from the government-controlled channel Ren-TV.

Ren-TV is often the first to break news of crackdowns on figures critical of the Kremlin.

Novaya reported on Thursday that its Moscow office was raided by immigration police, noting that Ren-TV ran the segment before authorities even arrived on the scene.

“It’s noteworthy that the news came before the inspection itself: the police weren’t even in the building at the time,” the newspaper wrote.

Novaya staff said that Ren-TV’s account of the raid was exaggerated, inflating the number of officers involved.

Both outlets reported that the raid was in connection with an openly gay Uzbek journalist employed by Novaya whose asylum request was overturned and who faces deportation while in detention.