An exiled Russian celebrity
writer referred to as her country’s Nigella Lawson has seized her homes for her
opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Bestselling author and
influencer Belotserkovskaya, 52, is one of Russia’s loudest critics of the war
in Ukraine
Veronika Belotserkovskaya, 52,
also faces jail time under draconian censorship laws that prohibit criticism of
the country’s armed forces.
A Russian court took the
assets, houses in Moscow and Saint Petersburg worth around £1 million, in her
absence.
The celebrity is on Russia’s
International Wanted List for social media posts “deliberately providing false
information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation to
destroy cities and the civilian population of Ukraine, including children.”
Her messages were based on
“political hatred or enmity,” the Kremlin claimed.
The seizure of her assets in a
decision of the Moscow District Court Basmanny concerns the posts.
She was previously arrested in
absentia – and could face up to 10 years in prison if extradited to Russia.
‘Chef Belonika’ previously
accused Putin of hiding in his ‘warm bunker, close to hell’
Belonika had accused Vladimir
Putin of turning ‘boys aged 18 to 20 … into the mincemeat of’ [his] imperial
ambitions’.
Belotserkovskaya was born in
Odessa, Ukraine, but called himself a “proud Russian” and has posted a series
of ardent anti-war declarations in a country where the word “war” itself is
banned.
In Russia, the invasion of
Ukraine should be described as a ‘special military operation’.
She now lives in France and
was the first Russian to be dragged through the courts for criticizing Putin
over Ukraine.
Among her posts to her 955,000
followers, she accused Putin of waging “an aggressive war against a sovereign
state.”
She said: ‘I do not consider
the Ukrainian people my enemy. I consider them brothers and sisters.’
And she wrote: ‘I am
absolutely shocked by how many mothers on both sides don’t want to wait for
their boys to come home.’
