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 The BBC's Dan Isaacs:"The media house itself said it had received no explanation"  real 28k  NTV Editor Vladimir Kulistikov"The problems will get worse and worse"  real 28k |
Masked men, identifying themselves as tax inspectors entered the headquarters of the privately run Media-MOST group, headed by Vladimir Gusinsky.
The group includes the national NTV television channel, the Echo Moscow radio station and Sevodnya daily newspaper - popular and outspoken media.
The Sevodnya's Editor-in-Chief, Mikhail Berger, said the raid may have been a direct response to the group's recent reports about corruption in the highest echelons of power, including the presidential administration.
The BBC's Rob Parsons in Moscow says many observers believe the raid could be the start of a wider clampdown.
Supported Putin opponent
Both the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office and a spokesman for the FSB intelligence service said the searches were in connection with a criminal case against the group.
 Armed police officers stand outside the media group's headquarters
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Reporters were told to stay out of the way but were not threatened.
During the presidential elections in March, the Media-MOST group suppported liberal reformer Grigory Yavlinsky giving him a platform for attacks on ex-President Boris Yeltsin and the man who succeeded him, Vladimir Putin.
In a statement the Media-Most group described the raid as "an act of state arbitrariness and lawnlessness ... aimed at preventing them from carrying out their professional activity".
According to the group, the raid violates "the fundamental principles of the Constitution and the law on mass media".
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