Moscow court issues arrest warrant for editor-in-chief of TV Rain

The Golovinsky Court in Moscow has issued a warrant for the arrest in absentia of TV Rain’s editor-in-chief, Tikhon Dzyadko, on charges of evading the obligations of a foreign agent, according to Russian media reports.

“The court has granted the motion to impose a pretrial measure on Dzyadko in the form of detention in absentia,” the statement said.

In April, Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs declared Dzyadko wanted. The journalist left Russia in 2022 after the channel’s website was blocked; that same year, he was designated a foreign agent. In 2023, TV Rain’s overseas branches were declared undesirable organisations. Dzyadko has been fined twice for participating in their activities and violating labelling requirements.

On 18 July, the Investigative Committee opened criminal cases against Tikhon Dzyadko, TV Rain anchor Ekaterina Kotrikadze, and journalist Valeria Ratnikova over alleged misinformation about the Russian army and failure to fulfil foreign agent obligations.

By Vugar Khalilov