A Moscow court has issued an arrest warrant in absentia for exiled novelist Grigori Chkhartishvili, known by his pen name Boris Akunin, over his criticism of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Accused of justifying terrorism and spreading what is viewed as “fake news” about the Russian army, Akunin now faces charges that Russian law enforcement initiated last month.
Akunin has been residing outside Russia since 2014. The Basmanny District Court in Moscow ruled for his arrest and stipulated a two-month detention period, should he be handed over to Russia. If convicted, Akunin could potentially face up to seven years in prison for the terrorism-related charges and up to ten years for disseminating perceived “fake news” during wartime.
In December, Russia’s Ministry of Justice opened a criminal case against Akunin and by January 12, it had recognized him as a foreign agent. Furthermore, Rosfinmonitoring, the country’s financial intelligence agency, has listed Akunin as a “terrorist and extremist”, facilitating the freezing of his Russian bank accounts.
A vocal critic of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Akunin co-founded the “True Russia” platform, providing support for Ukrainian refugees and exiled anti-war Russians. Additonally, his public opposition to Russia’s geopolitical actions has been well-documented.
The decision to arrest Akunin in absentia coincides with an increasing crackdown on dissenting voices in relation to Russia’s military actions. Pointedly, in November 2023, Ksenia Fadeyeva, an ally of the imprisoned opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, was jailed during her trial for extremism in the Russian city of Tomsk.
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