Russia’s Interior Ministry has placed Dmitry Bastrakov, the founder of the Chernaya Sotnya (Black Hundred) publishing house and its affiliated far-right Listva bookstores, on its wanted list, Mediazona reported.
The listing does not specify what criminal offense Bastrakov is wanted for. According to iStories, leaked records indicate that by 2024, authorities had opened a criminal investigation into his alleged absence without leave under Article 337, Part 5, of Russia’s Criminal Code.
iStories reported that Bastrakov was most likely added to a list of service members absent without leave when his Tyl-22 team was placed under the command of another military unit of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in 2023.
The Telegram news channel Ostorozhno, Novosti also reported, citing several sources familiar with the situation, that Bastrakov may be wanted for absence without leave.
Bastrakov founded Chernaya Sotnya in 2013 with Timur Venkov. In a 2022 interview, Bastrakov said he had been traveling to the Donbas since 2014 and founded Tyl-22 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. The humanitarian project helps both civilians and Russian soldiers on the front lines. Mediazona reported that Bastrakov’s Telegram channel does not make clear whether he is currently in Russia or abroad, but as recently as September, his associates posted a photo of him at a religious procession in Moscow.
The Listva bookstores are part of Chernaya Sotnya and are very popular among the far right. Listva regularly hosted events with Russian “war correspondents,” pro-war writers, and Donbas separatist leaders.
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