Russia adds Meta spokesperson to its criminal wanted list

Moscow, Nov 27 : Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has put Meta spokesperson Andy Stone to its wanted list under a criminal article.

Stone "is wanted under an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,” reports state-owned news agency Tass, citing the ministry's database.

The reason Stone has been added to the list was not mentioned, according to the report.

In 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moscow officially designated Meta as a "terrorist and extremist" organisation.

Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) were banned and are only accessible in the country through VPNs.

In March 2022, the Russian investigative committee opened a criminal case on calls for violence and murder against Russians in connection with the actions of Meta employees.

Russia on Saturday launched the largest drone attack in Kiev since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion.

Posting on Telegram, Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said, "Russia attacked Ukraine with 75 kamikaze drones Shahed-131 and Shahed-136, and most of them were launched against Kiev."

The Ukrainian air defence destroyed 71 of the drones, it said.

The attack disrupted the electricity supply to 77 residential buildings and 120 institutions, it said.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four adults and an 11-year-old child suffered minor injuries in the attack.