Moscow court arrest in absentia leading Bellingcat investigator Christo Grozev
Christo Grozev (Photo:Lennart Meri Conference/www.flickr.com)
Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court arrested in absentia investigative news site Bellingcat’s lead investigator, Christo Grozev, Russian independent media outlet Mediabaza reported on April 21, referring to the lawyer representing the interests, Veronika Polyakova.
The arrest is valid for two months, while he faces up to two years in prison on charges of "illegally crossing the Russian border.
"The court session was closed and led by the same judge as the case of Ukraine's intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov the same day.
The lawyer did not disclose the details of the charges, citing the non-disclosure agreement, the outlet wrote.
Russia's Security Service FSB accused Grozev in July 2022 of helping Ukrainian intelligence in allegedly planning an attempt to hijack a Russian military aircraft.
The journalist said that he was leading a Bellingcat investigation into attempts by the FSB and the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine to deceive each other.
Russia put Grozev on its "wanted" list in December 2022, the Russian Interior Ministry announced without specifying under which Criminal Code articles.
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