Russia tightens crackdown on protesters 0:39
(CNN) --
Russia has placed investigative journalist Christo Grozev on its "wanted" list, according to the country's interior ministry.
Grozev, a Bulgarian national, is the lead Russia researcher for the Bellingcat news group.
Information posted on the ministry's website said he was "wanted under an article of the Penal Code," without specifying the exact article.
According to the independent human rights observatory OVD-Info, a criminal case has been opened against Grozev for spreading "false news" about the Russian Army.
The Russian government passed a law criminalizing the dissemination of what it calls "deliberately false" information about the Russian Armed Forces in early March, just days after President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The maximum penalty provided by law is 15 years in prison.
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Grozev has reported widely on Russia's involvement in a series of high-profile international crimes, including the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine and the 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the United Kingdom.
Moscow has repeatedly denied any responsibility for both attacks.
Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grozev pictured during a press conference in London in 2018. (Credit: Hannah McKay/Reuters)
Along with Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny's team and journalists from CNN and other outlets, Grozev also investigated Navalny's 2020 poisoning.
The journalist focuses on "security threats, clandestine offshore operations, and the militarization of information," according to the Bellingcat website.
The journalist's investigations into the Russian war
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, Grozev has used open source digital tools to document war crimes and other atrocities committed during the conflict.
Grozev said Monday he did not know why he was included on Russia's wanted list.
"I have no idea why the Kremlin has put me on its 'wanted list', so I cannot comment at this time. In a way, it doesn't matter: for years they have made it clear that They are afraid of our work and that they would stop at nothing to make it disappear," he said in a Twitter message on Monday.
The Putin regime has methodically dismantled press freedom for years, but the crackdown on independent publications and journalists intensified in late February.
All remaining independent media outlets in Russia have been shut down and online access to those operating from abroad has been blocked.
Western social media and publications have also been banned.
According to OVD-Info, at least 370 people have faced criminal prosecution for anti-war statements and speeches.
Dozens of them have fled Russia and have been placed on the wanted list, according to the monitor.