16:18, 9 February 2024

Activist Vitaly Votanovsky* requests asylum in Croatia

Vitaly Votanovsky*. Photo by Vitaly Votanovsky* https://prosleduet.media

Vitaly Votanovsky*, an activist from Krasnodar, who left Russia because of the threat of criminal prosecution, appealed to the authorities of Croatia with a request to grant him political asylum.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on October 15, 2023, it became known that the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) included Vitaly Votanovsky*, who “disseminated information aimed at creating a negative image of Russia,” into the register of foreign agents.

On April 5, 2023, Vitaly Votanovsky* announced that he had left Russia. The activist received threats after photographing the graves of soldiers killed in Ukraine and posting those photos in his Telegram channel “Titushki in Krasnodar”.

According to the activist, he had to spend the night near the border. In the other morning, apart to him, several other families, including from Chechnya and Ingushetia, gathered near the border checkpoint. They also sought asylum in Croatia. Some were refused.

“A 35-year-old man was denied asylum because he was already on the EU territory and Hungary put a ‘black mark’ on him,” wrote Vitaly Votanovsky*.

According to the Krasnodar activist, after he and his companions had crossed the border, they were placed to a special detention centre, where conditions were comfortable and everything they needed was available.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 8, 2024 at 07:26 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot