Ben Keith and Rhys Davies write for the Kyiv Independent: How Russia games Interpol to target Ukrainians. The article was first published on the Kyiv Independent on 20 February 2026.
For over a century, Interpol has served as a valuable tool for law enforcement agencies. Not as a world police force, as Hollywood would have it, but more of a vast communications hub linking national agencies into a single, if fragile, response to cross-border crime.
Perhaps the most significant tool at Interpol's disposal is its Red Notice system. Designed to help track serious criminals across borders, it has been quietly absorbed into the modern autocrat's playbook. Red Notices are now routinely repurposed as a standard move for pursuing dissidents abroad, allowing repression to be exported under the cover of international cooperation.
Russia has become one of the most practiced users of this tactic.
The full article can be read on the Kyiv Independent website here. The online article sits behind a registration wall - access is free, but you need to create an account with your email address.
Ben Keith is a leading barrister specialising in cross-border and international cases. He deals with all aspects of extradition, immigration, human rights, mutual legal assistance, Interpol, financial crime and international law, including sanctions. He represents governments, political and military leaders, high net worth individuals, human rights defenders and business leaders in the most sensitive cases. He is a leading authority on the removal of Interpol Red Notices for worldwide clients. He edits the Red Notice Monitor blog.
Ben has extensive experience of appellate proceedings before the Administrative and Divisional Courts, Civil and Criminal Divisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court as well as applications and appeals to the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations.
Ben has significant expertise in post-soviet states, as well the Middle East and the Far East.
He is ranked in Chambers and Partners as a star leader in the field of extradition at the London Bar and in The Legal 500 as a Tier 1 leading individual in extradition. Ben is also ranked in Chambers and Partners in the field of immigration and in its Financial Crime: High Net Worth Individuals rankings. He is recognised in The Spears’ 500 2024 Guide as a ‘Recommended Immigration Law Barrister’.
