Russia puts Navalny poisoning journalist on 'wanted' list for insulting its armed forces

Russia has put Netherlands-based investigative website Bellingcat's journalist, Christo Grozev, who is also known for leading coverage on Russia's President Vladimir Putin's political rival Alexei Navalny's poisoning, on its “wanted” list on Tuesday, the country's Interior Ministry said in a press release. The Bulgarian journalist was ‘wanted under an article of the Criminal Code' over a case of disseminating “fake news” about the Russian armed forces amid the ongoing offensive in Ukraine. The exact article was not specified by the Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation.  

The move, however, appears to be enacted in accordance with Moscow's restrictive legislation imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading what the Russian State Duma deemed to be intentionally “fake” news about the military. It states that "anyone found guilty of knowingly disseminating information which distorts the purpose, role and tasks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as other formations during special military and other operations” could face criminal sanctions. Journalists whom Russia deems to have published or spread "disinformation" or "fake news" related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine could face criminal punishment including up to 15 years in prison.

The law includes reporting on military casualties suffered by Russian armed forces or allegations of war crimes. Although, the Interior Ministry of Russia did not mention the offense committed by Christo Grozev for which he was incorporated on the 'wanted' list. Independent human rights monitor OVD-Info stated that Grozev faces a criminal case in Moscow for disseminating “fake news” about the soldiers, who have been openly condemning the Bulgarian press worker's "false" reportage.

'Russian state scared of my work': Grozev

Grozev risks facing a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison under the law. Fines of up to one and a half million rubles can also be imposed. Russia's law also criminalizes any public calls by the press for the imposition of sanctions against Russia, globally. At the time the bill was tabled at the Federal Council, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Viacheslav Volodin, had warned that those found guilty, and "those who lied and made statements discrediting our Armed Forces" will be punished "very harshly."

Aside from Russia Ukraine war, the Bulgarian journalist has extensively covered the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine, as well as the 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the United Kingdom. He's also credited with the coverage of the August 2020 Novichok nerve agent poisoning of Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. Grozev used open-source digital tools to report on the war crimes committed by the invading Russian soldiers in Ukraine. An estimated 370 face criminal prosecution for reporting what Russia describes as "fake" news on the war. 

Grozev responded to the incident on Twitter, saying that the Russian state is "scared" of his work and that they would leave no stone unturned to "make it go away".  “I have no idea on what grounds the Kremlin has put me on its ‘wanted list,’ thus I cannot provide any comments at this time. In a way it doesn’t matter – for years they’ve made it clear they are scared of our work and would stop at nothing to make it go away,” he said.