The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian rapper Timati (Timur Yunusov), citing repeated violations of Ukrainian law related to unauthorized entry into Russian-occupied territories.
The warrant was added to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s database on July 1 but only recently caught the attention of Russian media.
According to investigators, Timati has performed in Crimea at least seven times since Russia’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula. He was formally charged in absentia by the SBU in June.
The agency described Timati as “a participant in Russian propaganda,” noting that he served as an official campaign proxy for Vladimir Putin during the 2012, 2018, and 2024 presidential elections. It also accused him of “supporting Russian aggression, the annexation of Crimea, and the violation of Ukraine’s fundamental rights to independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”