Russian law enforcement has issued an arrest warrant for Tikhon Dzyadko, who serves as the editor-in-chief of the exiled media outlet TV Rain, according to a report from the news site Mediazona on Wednesday.
A notice for Dzyadko was added to the database of the Russian Interior Ministry following a Moscow court’s decision in February to bring administrative charges against him and three other journalists for alleged connections to an “undesirable” organization.
In 2023, TV Rain, which Dzyadko has led as chief editor since 2019, was classified as “undesirable” in Russia.
This classification prohibits TV Rain from operating within the country, places its employees at risk of imprisonment, and makes interactions with the channel—including sharing its content online—a criminal offense.
Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Russian authorities mandated that TV Rain halt its operations. The independent network then moved first to Riga, Latvia, and subsequently to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
In October 2022, Russia’s Ministry of Justice designated Dzyadko as a “foreign agent.”
In July 2023, a Moscow court imposed a fine on Dzyadko for not fulfilling the obligations associated with being a “foreign agent,” which include submitting detailed financial statements and including “foreign agent” labels in publications and social media communications.