Russia using Interpol's wanted list to target critics abroad, leak reveals
1 day ago Share Save Cate Brown , BBC Eye Investigations , Max Hudson and Julia Luft , BBC Eye Investigations Share Save
BBC Businessman Igor Pestrikov found Moscow had put him on a wanted list after he fled Russia in 2022
Thousands of files provided by a whistleblower at Interpol expose for the first time the extent of Russia's apparent abuse of the international policing agency to target its critics abroad. The data provided to the BBC World Service and French investigative outlet, Disclose, reveals that Russia is using Interpol's wanted lists to request the arrest of people such as political opponents, businessmen and journalists, claiming that they have committed crimes. Analysis of data also suggests that over the past decade, Interpol's own independent complaints unit has received more complaints about Russia than anyone else - three times more than the next highest country, Turkey. In addition, it indicates complaints against Moscow's requests have led to more cases being overturned than for any other country. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Interpol introduced extra checks on Moscow's activity "to prevent any potential misuse of Interpol's channels in relation to the targeting of individuals within or beyond the conflict in Ukraine". But the leaked documents suggest these did not prevent Russia abusing the system and the whistleblower told us some stricter measures were quietly dropped in 2025.
OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE/AFP via Getty Images Interpol says it has systems in place to avoid misuse and these have been strengthened in recent years
In response, Interpol says that every year, thousands of the world's most serious criminals are arrested thanks to its operations and that it has a number of systems to avoid misuse which have been strengthened over the last few years. It also says it is aware of the potential impact requests for arrest can have on individuals. "When you're hit with a red notice, your life changes completely," says Igor Pestrikov, a Russian businessman, whose name appears in the leaked files. Interpol is not a global police force itself, but helps police across the world to co-operate. A red notice is an alert to all of its 196 member countries, asking them to locate and arrest a person. A red diffusion is a similar request but is only sent to individual countries. Pestrikov found he was named in a red diffusion after he fled Russia in June 2022 - four months after the invasion of Ukraine - and applied for asylum in France. He felt he had two options: "Go to the police and say, 'I'm in the Interpol system,'" and risk arrest or lie low. This may mean "you can't rent an apartment, your bank accounts get blocked", which is what happened to him, he says. "It's constant nerves, all the time," he adds, explaining he was always looking over his shoulder. For safety, his daughter and her mother moved to another country. The police can "break into your house at any time… that's why you're like a cornered rat", he says. "It's the stress, the nerves, the pressure, the lawlessness inflicted on you," that breaks families apart, he adds.
Pestrikov had been a major shareholder in large metals companies in Russia that were privatised in the 1990s, most notably Solikamsk Magnesium Plant. In the months leading up to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he says government ministers pressured him to stop selling his products abroad and only supply the Russian market. He believed this would mean his products could be used to make components for military hardware, such as fighter jets and tanks. He says it wasn't just that he was against "having to sell much cheaper and to whoever the ministries told me to" but that "it was a moral issue as well... no-one wanted to get involved even indirectly in the production of something used to kill people". Pestrikov believes his refusal to comply and the fact his wife at the time was Ukrainian led to his companies being nationalised and to Russia investigating him for financial crimes. After he fled to France, he was worried that the Kremlin might try to target him there, so he contacted Interpol and was told about the red diffusion request, which had passed the agency's checks. Pestrikov decided to challenge it through Interpol's internal, independent watchdog, the Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files (CCF), arguing that Russia's request was politically motivated. Interpol's constitution expressly states that the organisation cannot be used "to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character".
ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images Pestrikov fled Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began - one of the first cities to be attacked was Chuguiv in eastern Ukraine
After Pestrikov had spent almost two years on the wanted list, the CCF ruled that his case was predominantly political. He showed us CCF documents that said the information Russia had provided was "generic and formulaic" and there had been an "inadequate explanation" of the alleged crime. Interpol cancelled the request for Pestrikov's detention. Interpol only releases very basic data about illegitimate requests for arrests and since 2018 has not revealed which countries are the subject of complaints and inquiries. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to assess the scale of the problem, but for the first time, the leaked documents reveal a much fuller picture. One batch of files shared with the BBC contains a list of complaints sent to the CCF. The data is not complete, but it covers a broad range of countries, and where the nation requesting an arrest is listed, there are more complaints about Russia than anywhere else - this has been the case for the past 11 years. The files also show that in the past decade, at least 700 people who were wanted by Russia complained to the CCF, and at least 400 of them had their red notices or diffusions overturned - that is more than for any other country, according to the data we received.
The files show Russia attempted to use Interpol's messaging system to get information about journalist Armen Aramyan after he left the country
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