CNN
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Russia put investigative journalists Christ Groszef According to the Russian Interior Ministry, he is on a “wanted” list.
A Bulgarian, Groszev is the chief Russian investigator for the journalism group Bellingcat.
Information posted on the ministry’s website said he was “wanted under a criminal law clause,” but the exact clause was not specified.
According to the independent human rights watchdog OVD-Info, a criminal case has been opened against Groszev for spreading “fake news” about the Russian military.
The Russian government adopted a law in early March, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, making it a crime to spread “deliberately false” information about the Russian military. The maximum sentence under law is 15 years in prison for him.
Grozev has reported extensively on Russia’s involvement in many high-profile international crimes, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 and the poisoning in 2018. Sergei and Yulia Skripal in England. Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility for either attack.
Along with the team of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and journalists from CNN and other news outlets, Grozev also Navalny’s Poisoning in 2020.
According to Bellingcat’s website, he focuses on “security threats, extraterritorial covert operations, and information weaponization.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Grozev has used open-source digital tools to document war crimes and other atrocities committed during the conflict.
Grozev said on Monday he did not know why he was added to Russia’s wanted list.
“I don’t know why the Kremlin put me on the wanted list, so I can’t comment at the moment. I have made it clear that I will do nothing to eliminate it.
The Putin administration has methodically dismantled press freedom for years, but the crackdown on independent publications and journalists tightened in late February.
All remaining independent Russian media outlets have been closed, and online access to those operating from abroad has been cut off. Western publications and social media sites are also prohibited.
According to OVD-Info, at least 370 people have been criminally prosecuted for their anti-war statements and speeches. Dozens have fled Russia and been put on a wanted list, according to The Monitor.