Russia adds author Boris Akunin to a register of extremists and opens a criminal case against him

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities have added popular detective novelist and dissident Grigory Chkhartishvili, known under the pen name Boris Akunin, to its register of “extremists and terrorists.” Also on Monday, Russian state media reported that a criminal case had been opened against the Russian-Georgian writer for “discrediting the army.” Discrediting the Russian military is a criminal offense under a law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The law is regularly used against Kremlin critics. Akunin lives in London.