A Moscow court has issued an arrest warrant in absentia for prominent Russian writer Boris Akunin (aka Grigory Chhartishvili), who is accused of calling for "terrorism" and spreading "false information" about the Russian military.
"A preventive detention measure has been issued against Chhartishvili for two months from the moment of his detention in Russia or extradition," the press service of the Basmani district court announced on February 6.
Last month, the Russian Interior Ministry placed Akunjin on an international wanted list for alleged criminal activities, although specific charges were not specified.
Akunjin, 67, who currently lives in London after leaving Russia in 2014, has openly criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Russian Ministry of Justice declared Akunjin a "foreign agent".
Last month, Russia's financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, added Akunin to its list of "terrorists and extremists" without explanation, but media reports said Akunin was under investigation for allegedly discrediting the Russian armed forces.
The move came less than a week after one of Russia's largest book publishers and the country's largest chain of bookstores announced they had dropped Akunin and another popular writer, Dmitry Bykov, over their pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian comments.
In October, all Russian theaters staging plays based on Akunin's works removed his name from their posters.
Akunin was among dozens of Russian writers who openly condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, immediately after the beginning of the Russian invasion, he wrote on Facebook that "a new terrible era has begun" in Russia.
"Until the last moment, I could not believe that Putin would start this absurd war and I was wrong. I always believed that in the end common sense would win, and I was wrong. Madness won," Akunjin wrote.
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