Russia’s Interior Ministry has added political analyst and Riddle editorial director Anton Barbashin to its wanted database. Mediazona drew attention to the listing.
There had been no prior public reports that a criminal case had been opened against Barbashin. The published database entry does not specify under which article he was declared wanted.
In January 2025, the Justice Ministry designated Barbashin a “foreign agent”. Earlier, in 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office had declared Riddle an “undesirable organization”.
The agency said at the time that the project’s activities “pose a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the Russian Federation.”
Later, in June 2026, a court in Novosibirsk fined Barbashin 5,000 rubles under a protocol accusing him of participating in the activities of an “undesirable organization”. The case was based on publications on the Riddle website.
In addition, at least two protocols were drawn up against him under the article concerning violations of the legislation on “foreign agents”.
Riddle focuses on analysis of political and economic processes in Russia.