Russians living in exile in Europe should be wary as voices critical of the Kremlin and the war in Ukraine are now “targets”, dissident writer Serhiy Lebedev has warned, AFP reports.

“This emigrant community in Europe is now one of the most important targets for Russian security services,” the 42-year-old writer told AFP in an interview at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany.

“There will be infiltration attempts, informers and, of course, assassination attempts,” predicts the author, who has been living in Germany with his wife for five years.

Germany is a “hub” for Russians in exile, says a writer who arrived this week to launch his latest book at one of Europe’s biggest events.

Since the start of the war, it has taken extra precautions when sharing information that is considered confidential.

And he asks his compatriots to do the same: in his opinion, Russians in Europe do not take the threat seriously enough: “They are not very concerned about security”

His novel The Beginner, written before the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 and published in France last year, reflects these fears: it tells the story of a scientist who developed a poison used by Russia to kill political opponents.

The book was inspired by the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in England in 2018.

Another high-profile case is the Russian dissident Oleksii Navalny, who was poisoned by Novachka in August 2020.

Moscow has always denied any responsibility on the part of its special services.