Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for Editor of The Insider Who Proved FSB Involvement in MH17 Downing

Editor-in-chief of The Insider says he is not in Russia.

Russian security forces have opened a criminal case and put The Insider's editor-in-chief, Roman Dobrokhotov, on the wanted list.

Earlier, the outlet's investigative journalists proved the involvement of the FSB leadership in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Journalist wanted

On September 30, searches were carried out in Russia at the registered address where Dobrokhotov's wife lives and at his parents' home. It turned out that the journalist had been put on the wanted list as early as September 23.

According to lawyer Yulia Kuznetsova, the case concerns illegal crossing of the border. The FSB of Russia stated that it has information about Dobrokhotov's "illegal crossing" of the border and travel to Ukraine in August of this year.

Another human rights activist, Sergei Telnov, reported that after the searches, the journalist's wife and parents are to be brought in for questioning at the FSB Investigative Directorate of Russia.

The Insider's investigations

Earlier, The Insider's investigative journalists, together with Bellingcat, investigated the case of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, shot down by militants in Donbas.

They published a series of evidence that the FSB leadership of Russia was involved in the crime. The information collected by the journalists was confirmed during court hearings.

The Insider, registered in Latvia and headed by Dobrokhotov, was included by the Russian Ministry of Justice in the so-called register of "foreign agent media" on July 23.

That same day, searches were carried out at Dobrokhotov's home in a case over alleged "defamation" of Dutch journalist Max van der Werff. Dobrokhotov said he did not intend to leave Russia because his foreign passport had been taken from him.

In addition, The Insider, together with Bellingcat and CNN, proved that FSB officers were involved in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

It was also this outlet, working with Bellingcat and Der Spiegel, that obtained evidence that Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, the poisoners of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in London, are agents of Russian special services.

Dobrokhotov's comment

Dobrokhotov told Ukraine 24 that he is indeed outside Russia, but cannot be sure of his safety.

Roman Dobrokhotov
Editor-in-chief of The Insider

Obviously, this concerns persecution of me as the editor of The Insider as a result of our investigations. Many of them were directly linked to the FSB. So when the FSB bursts into my apartment with a search, it is not surprising. This time they are already trying to intimidate my family, my parents, my wife with small children. They broke in at six in the morning and again took phones and computers.

He added that although he himself is outside Russia, he cannot judge whether he is safe, citing the murders of the Skripals and Pavel Sheremet as examples.