Russia adds popular author Akunin to register of ‘extremists and terrorists,’ opens criminal case

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities added popular detective novelist and dissident Grigory Chkhartishvili, known under the pen name Boris Akunin, to its register of “extremists and terrorists.” It occurred on the same day that Russian state media reported that a criminal case had been opened last week against the Russian-Georgian writer for “discrediting the army.” 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. Akunin lives in London.