Russia charges writer Boris Akunin with ‘justifying terrorism’

The Russian authorities have charged writer Boris Akunin with spreading “disinformation” about the Russian army and publicly justifying terrorism following a prank phone call earlier this month in which Akunin said he has provided support to Ukraine.

Earlier on Monday, Russia’s financial monitoring service added Akunin to its registry of “extremists and terrorists.” Russian law requires that individuals on the list have their bank accounts frozen.

Following the release of the prank call recording in mid-December, the Russian publishing company ACT announced it would stop printing and distributing the writer’s books.

Akunin has lived outside of Russia since 2014. The Russian Investigative Committee said it plans to issue a warrant for his arrest.