 The Moscow-born Gessen, a staff writer for The New Yorker and a columnist for The New York Times who lives in the U.S., is a prominent critic of Russian President Putin and an award-winning writer. Russian police put Gessen on a wanted list in December. Russian media reported the case was based on statements they made about atrocities committed by Russian troops in the Ukrainian town of Bucha in an interview with a popular Russian online blogger.