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Abbas Gallyamov, a former speech writer for President Vladimir Putin, is on Russia’s wanted list for harshly criticizing Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Photo/RFERL
MOSCOW – Police on Russia has placed a former speech writer for the President Vladimir Putin on the wanted list of criminal suspects. He was wanted for his comments about the war in Moscow Ukraine .
Abbas Gallyamov wrote speeches for Putin while the Russian leader was prime minister from 2008-2012.
Gallyamov, 50, later became an outspoken political analyst and consultant, who is frequently quoted by Russian and foreign media. He has lived abroad in recent years.
On Friday, Russian and foreign media discovered that Gallyamov had been registered with the Interior Ministry database. The entry said he was wanted “in relation to an article in the Criminal Code”.
Russia’s Justice Ministry added Gallyamov last month to its list of foreign agents, a designation that carries additional scrutiny from the government and carries strong pejorative connotations aimed at undermining his credibility.
“Gallyamov distributed materials created by foreign agents to an unlimited circle of people, spoke against special military operations in Ukraine, (and) participated as an expert and respondent on information platforms provided by foreign structures,” the ministry said.
Gallyamov recently served an interview in which he predicted that an uprising in Russia might occur in response to Moscow’s war on Ukraine. He later predicted: “Russia will turn into a kind of fascist state, as it is now.”
Gallyamov told the Associated Press on Friday (24/3/2023) that he knew he was on a wanted list by Russian authorities from the media. No law enforcement agencies have contacted him, so he doesn’t know what charges he faces in Russia.
“I consider it an offense to formally discredit the army,” Gallyamov said in a telephone interview.
