Russia puts investigative journalist on wanted list
LONDON (Reuters) – Investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov, identified for his protection of Russian safety companies, stated on Monday that Russian authorities had positioned him on a needed record and frozen his financial institution accounts.
Soldatov, who co-founded the Agentura.ru web site, wrote on Twitter: “My Monday: my accounts in Russian banks are beneath arrest, plus I am positioned on Russia’s needed record.”
The Inside Ministry’s web site listed Soldatov, who couldn’t be reached by telephone, as needed beneath an unspecified article of the legal code.
In a separate submit within the Telegram messaging platform, Soldatov wrote that the case towards him had been filed in a way much like that of two journalists accused of spreading “pretend data” about Moscow’s navy marketing campaign in Ukraine.
“We’re clarifying the main points,” Soldatov wrote.
Days after sending its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russia handed a legislation offering for jail phrases of as much as 15 years for these convicted of deliberately spreading “pretend” information about Russia’s navy.
Moscow says its “particular navy operation” is designed to defuse a safety risk from Ukraine and defend its Russian-speakers from persecution.
Ukraine and Western international locations have dismissed these claims as baseless pretexts for a land seize that has killed hundreds, flattened cities and displaced 14 million folks.
(Reporting by Reuters; Enhancing by Kevin Liffey)
