Mikhail Zygar
Russia puts “Spiegel” columnists on a wanted list
The journalist Mikhail Zygar left Russia two years ago.
© Imago Images
With the outbreak of the Ukrainian war, Mikhail Zygar left Russia. Today the Kremlin-critical journalist lives in Berlin. The Russian authorities have now opened criminal proceedings against him – but the “Spiegel” columnist does not want to remain silent.
Mikhail Zygar, former editor-in-chief of the independent broadcaster living in exile in Berlin Doschd, is wanted. According to the Russian Interior Ministry’s database, the journalist is being sought “according to the criminal code,” reports the independent Russian media outlet Mediazona. There are no further details about this.
Zygar works as a columnist for “Spiegel”
According to the news magazine “Spiegel”, for which Zygar works as a columnist, he was said on Telegram channels to “spread false information on social media about atrocities committed by the Russian army in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.” Specifically, it was about an Instagram post in which he drew attention to the murder and rape of civilians in the Ukrainian city by Russian soldiers.
Zygar left Russia in February 2022; in his homeland he is considered a “foreign agent” – this status is given to organizations and people critical of the regime. The law serves to intimidate and silence those affected. For several years now, relatives and friends of “foreign agents” have also been allowed to be investigated.
Zygar’s foundation was banned
The increase of this is the classification as an “undesirable organization”. This mainly affects foreign companies – such as the German Heinrich Böll Foundation. Nowadays, originally Russian organizations also fall into this category. The opposition broadcaster Dozhd was banned in this way in Russia last summer, followed in February by Mikhail Zygar’s “XZ Foundation”. The foundation fights against Russian state propaganda.
After the manhunt became known, Zygar wrote in “Spiegel” that he did not want to be intimidated by the Kremlin. “I am being persecuted for my words, for my texts, for my books. Apparently they are too true and too painful for the Russian state, officials and propagandists.”
Sources: Mediazona on Telegram“Mirror“, DPA