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

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'sInterior 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".

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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