Russian authorities have issued arrest warrants for two popular animators and exiled opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov, the independent news website Mediazona reported Tuesday.The Russian Interior Ministrys wanted personsdatabaselists Gudkov, who served in Russias lower-house State Duma from 2011-16, alongside cartoonistsOleg Kuvayev andPavel Muntyan.Kuvayev is the creator of the long-running flash-animated series Masyanya, whose latest season is highly critical of Russias 22-month invasion of Ukraine.Russian authoritiesblocked the website that hosts Masyanya in the .ru domain one month into the invasion.In October 2023, Kuvayev was reportedlycharged with public calls for actions aimed against state security in connection with a Masyanya episode that urged Russian soldiers to turn themselves in to the Ukrainian military.Kuvayev, who lives in Israel, wasdeclared a foreign agent last Friday.Muntyan is the creator of another popular Russian web series Mr.
Freeman, whose title characterappeared in the music video for a 2023 anti-war song by veteran rapper Legalize.Russian authorities have sinceblocked the music video titled Mir!! Vashemu!! Domu!! (Peace to Your House) inside the country.Media outlets with links to Russias security services havereported that Muntyan was charged with spreading fake news about the Russian military in an April 2022 social media post.
Muntyan waslabeled a foreign agent in April 2023.Russias Interior Ministry does not publish the specific criminal cases linked to its arrest warrants.Gudkovdisclosed in October that he had been charged with spreading fake news about the Russian military after discussing the militarys killings of Ukrainian civilians in an April 2022 YouTube video.A formal arrest warrant doesnt change anything for me,Gudkov said in response to Tuesdays Interior Ministry notice.I have long been well aware that for me, the world is now limited to Europe, the U.S.
and Canada, Gudkov said.Gudkov, 43, left Russia for Ukraine in 2021 after being detained then suddenly released under what he called a fake criminal case against him.
He faced up to five years in prison over unpaid rent from 2015.