Ukraine puts Russian TV host Tina Kandelaki on international wanted list

Ukraine puts Tina Kandelaki on the wanted list

Russian journalist, TV presenter and producer of Georgian origin Tina Kandelaki, who has lived in Moscow for many years, will be put on the international wanted list by the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office. This was stated by the chief prosecutor of Ukraine Irina Venediktova.

“In my capacity as Prosecutor General, I inform you that your procedural status in Ukraine is that of a person suspected of committing a crime. In the coming days, Ukrainian prosecutors will initiate the process of putting you, Tinatin Givievna, on the international wanted list”, Venediktova said.

According to the Prosecutor General, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office became interested in the journalist after Kandelaki expressed the opinion that President Vladimir Zelensky should leave Ukraine, and Viktor Yanukovych should take his place. Also, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office checked Kandelaki’s personal Telegram channel and came to the conclusion that Kandelaki is one of the main distributors of the Kremlin’s ideas and slogans.

According to Venediktova, the case against Kandelaki was initiated under Article 110 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which implies financing actions aimed at forcibly changing or overthrowing the constitutional order in the country, seizing state power and/or changing territorial or state borders.

“According to the already established tradition, the only thing I want to ask you is to find good lawyers and not seek legal assistance from those who ask you to spread false and malicious information. They won’t tell you the truth. And the truth is that if you try to cross the border of other states, you will be detained by the competent authorities for the purpose of extradition to Ukraine”, writes Venediktova.

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Tina Kandelaki, a TV presenter originally from Tbilisi, is currently the general producer of the federal sports television channel Match TV, owns the AnsaLigy cosmetics brand, and owns her own Georgian restaurant in Moscow called “Tinatin”.

Kandelaki often praises Russian President Vladimir Putin, while in his speeches on the air he often speaks about the economic policy of Georgia and about his versions of building relations between Georgia and Russia. Kandelaki is one of the highest paid TV presenters and producers in Russia. She is especially active on Instagram, where she has over 3 million followers.

In the 1990s, Tina Kandelaki worked in Tbilisi for Radio 105 and the Second Georgian Television Channel. In 1995, she moved to Moscow, where she began working with Stanislav Sadalsky at various radio and television stations: M Radio, RDV, Radio Rocks, Silver Rain, Music TV and others.

In various Russian propaganda programs, she actively criticized the third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. According to her, the man who was considered the mouthpiece of democracy in Georgia turned out to be “a real tyrant who torments his people”.