German journalist Michael Martens has been placed on Russia’s wanted list after asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a question about Russian military casualties.
Martens, a correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), was added to a database of wanted people held by Russia’s Interior Ministry on 15 August, according to reports.
The question was asked during Mr Zelensky’s meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on 8 August. Martens asked what European countries could do to help Ukraine inflict greater losses on Russian forces.
Russian state news agency TASS, citing an unnamed source, said the journalist could face up to six years in prison under a law covering alleged incitement of hatred or hostility.
The Russian authorities have not publicly provided detailed information explaining why Martens was placed on the list.
TASS said he was not currently the subject of an international wanted notice, although that could change once the relevant legal procedures are completed.
The development comes as Russian authorities continue to tighten restrictions on journalists and media organisations reporting on the war in Ukraine.
Putting a foreign journalist on a wanted list after a question about Russia’s battlefield losses has also drawn attention to the increasingly narrow space for reporting that challenges Moscow’s preferred account of the war.
In a country where the government tightly controls the narrative around the conflict, even asking about the cost of the war can carry consequences far beyond the press conference.
