A Russian court orders the arrest of a bestselling writer over his support for Ukraine

A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of bestselling detective novelist and dissident Grigory Chkhartishvili, known under the pen name Boris Akunin, on charges of “justifying terrorism."

MOSCOW -- A Moscow court ordered the arrest Tuesday of a bestselling detective novelist and dissident on charges of “justifying terrorism,” two months after he was pranked by two pro-Kremlin activists into expressing support for Ukraine on a phone call.

Moscow's Basmanny District Court ordered Grigory Chkhartishvili, who is known under the pen name Boris Akunin and lives abroad, to be taken into custody once he's detained.

In December, Russian authorities added the Russian-Georgian writer to Russia’s register of “extremists and terrorists” over the call, in which two pranksters known as Vovan and Lexus posed as Ukrainian officials. A criminal case was opened against Akunin for “discrediting the army” — specifically for “justifying terrorism” and spreading “fake news” about the Russian military.

Discrediting the Russian military is a criminal offense under a law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The law is regularly used against Kremlin critics — although it is unlikely that Akunin, who lives in London, will face detention.

After the authorities branded Akunin an extremist, one of Russia’s leading publishers, AST, announced it was suspending the printing and sale of his books. In an online statement, Akunin described his publisher’s move as “an important milestone,” saying that Russian writers had not been accused of terrorism since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's purges.