My paper's been dropped like a polonium-filled potato for poking fun at Putin, says Moscow editor

"'They're here,' my colleague whispered. It was 11am, exactly the time the Russian ministry officials said they would arrive at our office to carry out an 'unplanned audit' of our newspaper's articles.

A film of sweat hit my back.

The officials from what is known as the Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications, and the Protection of Cultural Heritage had specifically requested my presence for the questioning, so that I might 'explain' our articles.

I had seriously considered absconding - and now that I was there, I wondered if I hadn't just made the biggest mistake of my life."

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