Russo-Ukraine War: Russian authorities on Monday announced parallel criminal investigations against a well-known actor criticizing the war in Ukraine and a philanthropist who supports the Russian opposition, the latest in a months-long, sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement that its chief, Alexander Bastrykin, ordered the opening of a criminal case against Artur Smolyaninov, a prominent Russian film and theater actor accused of involvement in Moscow’s military invasion of Ukraine and repeated war crimes. Left the country after speaking against it.
According to the statement, Smolyaninov “made several statements against Russia in an interview with a Western media outlet.” The Investigative Committee did not specify which of Smolyaninov’s actions constituted a criminal offense and what charges would be brought against him.
Smolyaninov’s most recent interview last week sparked outrage
Smolyaninov’s most recent interview last week sparked outrage among pro-Kremlin supporters. The actor told Novaya Gazeta Europe that if he had to fight in the war, he would fight “on the side of Ukraine”. “For me, it is on the side of my brothers, who were attacked by my other brothers,” said Smolyaninov.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday welcomed the investigation against Smolyaninov, noting that it was “important that our relevant (law enforcement) bodies think about these comments.”
Harsh rhetoric about Russians leaving the country
The investigation against Smolyaninov comes amid increasingly harsh rhetoric about Russians leaving the country because of the war. Lawmakers have suggested confiscating assets of those moving abroad or raising taxes for those who continue to work remotely for Russian companies. Others have condemned him as a “traitor”.
Separately, Russia’s Interior Ministry has placed prominent philanthropist Boris Zimin on an international most-wanted list on fraud charges, officials said Monday. Zimin has funded projects by several Russian independent media outlets as well as imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny. He was reported to have left Russia in 2015.
Navalny, a staunch foe of the Kremlin, said it was Zimin who paid 79,000 euros for his medical evacuation in Berlin in August 2020 after the politician was poisoned with a nerve agent and lay in a coma in the Siberian city of Omsk. Was.
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