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Anti-Extremism Cops Call Blogger In for Questioning

A federal anti-extremism police division asked popular blogger and photographer Ilya Varlamov for information regarding photographers suspected of infiltrating military facilities, Varlamov wrote on his LiveJournal page Tuesday.

Varlamov spoke with police after receiving a phone call requesting that he come to talk with officers at the Central Division for Anti-Extremism, the article said. Police told him that he does "improper things" and that he is "threatening the national security of the motherland."

"...it was explained to me that it's bad to put photographs of strategic buildings on the Internet. After all, terrorists will understand everything from these photos and blow [them] up," the article said.

"After that, the fighter of terrorism named me around 10 last names, asked if I knew them. It was the first time in my life I had heard any of the names," the article said. Police asked him about people who broke into secret facilities and photographed them, Varlamov said.

The LiveJournal page of blogger Lana Sator went viral last month after photographs of the state-owned NPO Energomash rocket-engine factory appeared there. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin vowed to institute stricter security at military facilities in response to the incident.

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