Top Journalist Arrested in Absence by Russian Court

Russian journalist Aleksandr Nevzorov

Alexander Nevzorov, a prominent Russian journalist accused of spreading false information about a so-called special military operation in Ukraine, was ordered by a Moscow court to be arrested in absentia on Friday.In the event Nevzorov returns to Russia or is extradited, the court stated that he will be detained for two months.

Nevzorov has been put on Russia's international wanted list. Nevzorov's wife wrote on Instagram in March that she and her husband were in Israel, however, the couple did not intend to settle there permanently. Investigators had opened a case against Nevzorov in March after he posted on social media that Russian forces intentionally shelled a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

The Ukrainian government and its Western allies condemned the attack as an atrocity. Despite Russia's denials, Kyiv accused Russia of staging the attack. In his open letter to Russia's top investigator, Nevzorov called the investigation ridiculous and asked that the case be closed immediately. His YouTube channel has more than 1.8 million subscribers.

Russia passed a law on February 24, eight days after it invaded Ukraine, providing jail terms of up to 15 years for those found guilty of intentionally spreading "fake" news about Russia's military.