Publicist Arkady Babchenko reported criminal prosecution by the SBU

Publicist Arkady Babchenko (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) reported that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) opened a criminal case against him. The publicist did not indicate under what article it was being investigated. There is no official confirmation of this information.

Arkady Babchenko wrote in his Telegram channel that he became aware of the criminal prosecution while trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Ukraine. He said that the SBU issued a reference to him. After crossing the border, according to the publicist, the special service ordered him to “detain him and send him to the Lukyanovka pre-trial detention center.”

Arkady Babchenko believes that the only possible reason for initiating a criminal case is posts criticizing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Arkady Babchenko complains that the criminal case was “the ruin of all his plans” for him, since he connected his future with Ukraine. “The Ukraine project is closed in relation to me,” the blogger concluded. In the message, he declared himself a cosmopolitan and expressed his intention to look for a “new home.”

Arkady Babchenko left Ukraine after Vladimir Zelensky was elected president in May 2019. Recently, the publicist has been living in Estonia. On July 30 he threw eggs on the building of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn. For this offence, Arkady Babchenko was fined €100.

Arkady Babchenko led journalistic activity in Russia until 2017. In 2012, he became involved in a criminal case in the Russian Federation for calling for mass riots. In 2017, Arkady Babchenko moved to Ukraine, where in 2018 participated in staging his own murder. In 2020 Rosfinmonitoring contributed him to the list of persons involved in extremist activities or terrorism.

Alexandra Goroshilova