You're reading: Ukrainian businessman Balashov faces criminal charges in Russia

Russian investigators have opened a criminal case against Ukrainian businessman Hennadiy Balashov over calls for extremism and inciting murder.

“The criminal case against Balashov has been opened under Article 280.2(1), Article 33(4) and Article 105(2-a,l) of the Russian Criminal Code (calls for extremism, inciting the murder of two and more persons, motivated by political and ethnic hatred or animosity),” Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax on Wednesday.

The defendant will be indicted in absentia and put on the wanted list in the very near future, he said.

“The investigators are going to ask the court to order his remand into custody,” Markin added.

According to the inquiry, on March 10, 2014, Balashov, speaking at a square in Kyiv, publicly called for Russian citizens in Crimea and in Ukraine as a whole to be killed.

“The Investigative Committee, jointly with other Russian law-enforcement agencies, is set to rigorously defend Russian citizens in Crimea and Ukraine under the Russian and international law and prosecute anyone committing or inciting crimes against Russian citizens. Neither the massive bank accounts, nor the rampant Russophobia will help Balashov or other similar figures walk away from criminal liability,” the spokesman said.

“Sooner or later they, like many members of the UNA-UNSO (Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People’s Self-Defense), will have to answer before the Russian justice system. This is not some politics but just a reaction of the Investigative Committee to the criminal offenses as provided by the Russian Federation Criminal Code, as well as international law,” Markin said.