In the Moscow region, blogger and misogynist Arsen Markaryan has been detained on charges of rehabilitating Nazism.

Security forces have detained the author of a personal growth blog and misogynist Arsen Markaryan on charges of rehabilitating Nazism in the form of insulting the memory of a defender of the Fatherland (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code). This has been reported by several media outlets as well as the Russian Investigative Committee’s Telegram channel.

The blogger was detained on Mozhaisk highway in the Moscow region, near the town of Kubinka, which is located just west of Moscow. According to the police Telegram channel “112”, he was found in the boot of a car heading for Belarus. He was later taken to the Investigative Committee in Moscow.

“According to investigators, no later than 25 February 2025, Markaryan, aware of the popularity of one of the video hosting platforms, published a video available to an unlimited audience, which contains information insulting the memory of defenders of the Fatherland,” writes the Investigative Committee. The agency added that the man had previously been declared wanted.

According to the Telegram channel “VChK-OGPU”, the grounds for the case were a video by the blogger entitled “Arsen Markaryan. On Self-sacrifice.” In it, he criticised the actions of Soviet soldier Aleksandr Matrosov, who, according to the official account, died covering the loophole of a German bunker (a firing point) with his body.

In January, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office announced it had initiated a criminal case against Arsen Markaryan under an article on calls to terrorism. The reason was one of his interviews in which the blogger discussed the use of drones featuring the inscription “Glory to Ukraine” and the Ukrainian flag, as reported by the Telegram channel “Ostorozhno, Moskva”. It is currently unknown whether this case has progressed further.

• Arsen Markaryan is a blogger and “personal growth coach” for men. He has become known, among other things, for his misogynistic views, repeatedly declaring the intellectual superiority of men over women. In July 2024, the head of the “Safe Internet League,” Ekaterina Mizulina, announced she would refer Markaryan’s statements to the prosecutor’s office.