Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a long-time Kremlin critic, on Friday said he had been "banned" from attending the upcoming BAFTA awards in London, where a documentary about dissident Alexei Navalny is nominated.&nbsp;Grozev, who is credited with having helped reveal the plot to kill Navalny, appears in the documentary. But on Friday, he tweeted that he had been "surprised to discover that my whole family and I have all been banned by British police from attending this weekend's BAFTA awards". Police had deemed them a "public security risk", he added. 
 
A statement from the Metropolitan Police said the force could not comment on individual cases, but that "the fact that some journalists face the hostile intentions of foreign states whilst in the UK is a reality that we are absolutely concerned with".

It could not ban individuals from attending private events, but had advised organisers of the showpiece British film awards, the Met added. "We recognise that our advice can mean organisers have difficult choices to make when deciding how best to mitigate any risks to the security of their event, and we are grateful for the ongoing engagement of BAFTA." 
 
"BAFTA said the safety of its guests and staff was a priority, adding that it has "robust and appropriate security arrangements in place every year". Grozev, who is the lead Russia investigator for the award-winning investigative website Bellingcat, tweeted that "moments like this show the growing dangers to independent journalists around the world". 
 
"These dangers don't stem just from murderous dictators, but also from having journalists' voices hushed – instead of amplified – by the civilised world they are trying to serve," he added. 
 
Navalny, the most prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been held for the past two years at a maximum-security prison outside Moscow after an embezzlement conviction. Before that, however, he was poisoned with the Soviet-made nerve agent Novichok on a trip to Siberia in 2020 and has accused Putin of being behind the attack. 
 
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Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a long-time Kremlin critic, on Friday said he had been "banned" from attending the upcoming BAFTA awards in London, where a documentary about dissident Alexei Navalny is nominated.

Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a long-time Kremlin critic, on Friday said he had been "banned" from attending the upcoming BAFTA awards in London, where a documentary about dissident Alexei Navalny is nominated. Grozev, who is credited with having helped reveal the plot to kill Navalny, appears in the documentary. But on Friday, he tweeted that he had been "surprised to discover that my whole family and I have all been banned by British police from attending this weekend's BAFTA awards". Police had deemed them a "public security risk", he added. A statement from the Metropolitan Police said the force could not comment on individual cases, but that "the fact that some journalists face the hostile intentions of foreign states whilst in the UK is a reality that we are absolutely concerned with". It could not ban individuals from attending private events, but had advised organisers of the showpiece British film awards, the Met added. "We recognise that our advice can mean organisers have difficult choices to make when deciding how best to mitigate any risks to the security of their event, and we are grateful for the ongoing engagement of BAFTA." "BAFTA said the safety of its guests and staff was a priority, adding that it has "robust and appropriate security arrangements in place every year". Grozev, who is the lead Russia investigator for the award-winning investigative website Bellingcat, tweeted that "moments like this show the growing dangers to independent journalists around the world". "These dangers don't stem just from murderous dictators, but also from having journalists' voices hushed – instead of amplified – by the civilised world they are trying to serve," he added. Navalny, the most prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been held for the past two years at a maximum-security prison outside Moscow after an embezzlement conviction. Before that, however, he was poisoned with the Soviet-made nerve agent Novichok on a trip to Siberia in 2020 and has accused Putin of being behind the attack. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Bulgarian journalist, a Kremlin critic, banned from BAFTA awards in London over safety fears

Christo Grozev, the Bulgarian journalist who was among the group of news professionals who investigated Russian dissident Alexei Navalny's poisoning in 2020, was put on the "wanted" list by Russia's&nbsp;Interior Ministry.

Grozev is the lead Russia investigator at the Netherlands-based investigative journalism group Bellingcat.

Information published on the ministry’s website said he was "wanted under an article of the Criminal Code".&nbsp;

A Russian human rights media project OVD-Info was cited by CNN saying that the Russian state has opened a criminal case for spreading "fake news" about the Russian army.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/putin-clears-law-against-fake-news-on-army-bbc-cnn-others-suspend-operations-459126">Putin clears law against ‘fake news’ on army</a>

Since April this year, Russia has had a law against "fake news" in place that seeks to punish journalists with a jail term of up to 15 years for publishing fake news about the army. In November, President Vladimir Putin proposed an amendment to the law that called for revoking the citizenship of Russian citizens once found convicted under the law.

WATCH |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/moscow-russian-anti-war-journalist-marina-ovsyannikova-detained-again-505835">Moscow: Russian anti-war journalist Marina Ovsyannikova detained again</a>

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Grozev has reported extensively on Russia’s involvement in a number of high-profile international crimes, including the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine and the 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the United Kingdom. Moscow has denied any responsibility for either attack in the past.&nbsp;

According to Bellingcat, Grozev focuses on "security threats, extraterritorial clandestine operations, and the weaponization of information."

Grozev has been using open-source digital tools to document alleged war crimes that human rights activists claim have drawn Russia's ire.

'They are scared of our work': Christo Grozev

Grozev wrote on Twitter that the Russian state is "scared" of the work he does and that they would stop at nothing "to make it go away".&nbsp;

“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 in a Twitter post on Monday.

According to OVD-Info, at least 370 people have faced criminal prosecution for anti-war statements and speeches.&nbsp;

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Christo Grozev, the Bulgarian journalist who was among the group of news professionals who investigated Russian dissident Alexei Navalny's poisoning in 2020, was put on the "wanted" list by Russia's Interior Ministry.

Christo Grozev, the Bulgarian journalist who was among the group of news professionals who investigated Russian dissident Alexei Navalny's poisoning in 2020, was put on the "wanted" list by Russia's Interior Ministry. Grozev is the lead Russia investigator at the Netherlands-based investigative journalism group Bellingcat. Information published on the ministry’s website said he was "wanted under an article of the Criminal Code". A Russian human rights media project OVD-Info was cited by CNN saying that the Russian state has opened a criminal case for spreading "fake news" about the Russian army. ALSO READ | Putin clears law against ‘fake news’ on army Since April this year, Russia has had a law against "fake news" in place that seeks to punish journalists with a jail term of up to 15 years for publishing fake news about the army. In November, President Vladimir Putin proposed an amendment to the law that called for revoking the citizenship of Russian citizens once found convicted under the law. WATCH | Moscow: Russian anti-war journalist Marina Ovsyannikova detained again × Grozev has reported extensively on Russia’s involvement in a number of high-profile international crimes, including the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine and the 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the United Kingdom. Moscow has denied any responsibility for either attack in the past. According to Bellingcat, Grozev focuses on "security threats, extraterritorial clandestine operations, and the weaponization of information." Grozev has been using open-source digital tools to document alleged war crimes that human rights activists claim have drawn Russia's ire. 'They are scared of our work': Christo Grozev Grozev wrote on Twitter that the Russian state is "scared" of the work he does and that they would stop at nothing "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 in a Twitter post on Monday. According to OVD-Info, at least 370 people have faced criminal prosecution for anti-war statements and speeches. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Christo Grozev, journalist who reported on Navalny poisoning, now 'wanted' by Russia

Investigative group Bellingcat on Tuesday said the second suspect in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was personally decorated as a hero by President Vladimir Putin in 2014.

The site on Monday said the man, who used the alias "Alexander Petrov", was, in fact, Alexander Mishkin, a trained military doctor employed by Moscow's GRU military intelligence service.

Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins and researcher Christo Grozev told reporters at an event in the British parliament on Tuesday that they found out Mishkin had taken part in undercover operations in Ukraine and the breakaway republic of Transnistria.

Higgins and Grozev also said that Mishkin took part in military operations in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and was made a Hero of the Russian Federation by Putin in autumn of the same year.

Bellingcat has previously identified GRU colonel Anatoly Chepiga as the other suspect and said that he too had received Russia's highest award in the same year in a secret ceremony in the Kremlin.

The two men are accused by British authorities of attempting to murder Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Soviet-made nerve agent called Novichok in March in the city of Salisbury in southwest England.

The Bellingcat investigation also said that Mishkin was born in the village of Loyga in northern Russia in 1979 and graduated from the Russian military's medical academy in St Petersburg, where he specialised in "deep underwater physiology".

The researchers said that he was recruited by the GRU "at some point before 2003" and moved to Moscow in around 2009 where he adopted the identity of Alexander Petrov.

Investigative group Bellingcat on Tuesday said the second suspect in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was personally decorated as a hero by President Vladimir Putin in 2014.

Investigative group Bellingcat on Tuesday said the second suspect in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was personally decorated as a hero by President Vladimir Putin in 2014. The site on Monday said the man, who used the alias "Alexander Petrov", was, in fact, Alexander Mishkin, a trained military doctor employed by Moscow's GRU military intelligence service. Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins and researcher Christo Grozev told reporters at an event in the British parliament on Tuesday that they found out Mishkin had taken part in undercover operations in Ukraine and the breakaway republic of Transnistria. Higgins and Grozev also said that Mishkin took part in military operations in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and was made a Hero of the Russian Federation by Putin in autumn of the same year. Bellingcat has previously identified GRU colonel Anatoly Chepiga as the other suspect and said that he too had received Russia's highest award in the same year in a secret ceremony in the Kremlin. The two men are accused by British authorities of attempting to murder Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Soviet-made nerve agent called Novichok in March in the city of Salisbury in southwest England. The Bellingcat investigation also said that Mishkin was born in the village of Loyga in northern Russia in 1979 and graduated from the Russian military's medical academy in St Petersburg, where he specialised in "deep underwater physiology". The researchers said that he was recruited by the GRU "at some point before 2003" and moved to Moscow in around 2009 where he adopted the identity of Alexander Petrov.

Second Skripal suspect was decorated by Putin: Investigative group

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Bulgarian journalist, a Kremlin critic, banned from BAFTA awards in London over safety fears

Christo Grozev, journalist who reported on Navalny poisoning, now 'wanted' by Russia

Second Skripal suspect was decorated by Putin: Investigative group