Russia Adds Kyiv-Based Veteran Journalist Kiselyov To Wanted List

MOSCOW -- Russian authorities have added a formerly prominent Russian journalist who currently works for a Kyiv-based Ukrainian TV channel to their fugitives list.

Yevgeny Kiselyov's name appeared on the Interior Ministry's wanted list on July 15 without explanation.

Kiselyov is a former managing director of Russia's once-independent NTV television channel and currently works for the Ukraina 24 television channel in Kyiv.

In early April, Russia's Justice Ministry added Kiselyov to the registry of alleged foreign agents, saying he was involved in political activities sponsored by Ukraine.

Russian officials' long-running clampdown on media and independent criticism has dramatically increased since President Vladimir Putin launched his large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The 66-year-old Kiselyov was one of Russia's best-known journalists in the late 1990s and early 2000s in part for his coverage of corruption in the government.

He left NTV in 2001 after the state-controlled energy giant Gazprom took it over.

Kiselyov moved to Kyiv in 2008, citing greater freedom of expression in Ukraine.

His current programs at Ukraina 24 television channel in Kyiv are critical of Russia's ongoing invasion.