Russian citizen arrested in Prague under warrant from Moscow while traveling to France to request asylum

Czech police arrested Russian citizen Yevgeny Gerasimenko at Prague’s Václav Havel Airport on Sunday in response to an international arrest warrant issued by Moscow, according to the Czech news outlet Denik N.

At the time of his arrest, Gerasimenko was traveling from Riga to Paris, where he planned to request political asylum on the grounds that the Russian authorities persecuted him for opposing the war in Ukraine and attending protests.

Russia issued the arrest warrant against Gerasimenko in 2023 for alleged financial crimes. Sources who spoke to Gerasimenko told Denik N that the case against him is political in nature and was launched by the Russian authorities in hopes of returning him to Russia.