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The Investigative Committee has opened a second criminal case against Semyon Kochkin, the creator of the Telegram channel “Angry Chuvashia,” under the article concerning evasion of ‘foreign agent’ obligations (part 2 of article 330.1 of the Criminal Code).

The case was initiated in March. According to the indictment (which is available to OVD-Info), this time, the grounds for the criminal prosecution were the failure to submit the required “foreign agent” quarterly reports to the Ministry of Justice in 2025.

On 24 April, Kochkin was arrested in absentia in this case. Six days later, his case was sent to the Moskovsky District Court of Cheboksary, a city on the Volga River east of Moscow, and on 26 May it began to be considered on its merits. However, cases under part 2 of article 330.1 of the Criminal Code are legally the jurisdiction of magistrates’ courts.

A court-appointed lawyer, Anatoly Petrov, is representing Kochkin in the case. The activist has not been able to contact him: the lawyer is not replying to their messages.

“In this new case I have been assigned a state-appointed lawyer. I do not know him, and, of course, I did not hire him myself. I found his WhatsApp, but he has not responded yet-perhaps due to blockages,” writes the activist on social media.

  • In December 2025, Kochkin was sentenced in absentia to two years in a penal colony on charges of discrediting the army (part 1, article 280.3 of the Criminal Code), participating in an extremist organisation (part 2, article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), and evading ‘foreign agent’ obligations (part 2, article 330.1 of the Criminal Code).
  • Kochkin was accused of discrediting the army because of posts made to “Angry Chuvashia,” and of participating in an extremist organisation for publishing material about the work of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and Navalny’s underground headquarters. The “foreign agent” charge was brought over their failure to label their posts as originating from a “foreign agent.”
  • The activist was also accused of repeat public display of banned symbols because of references to the “Freedom of Russia” Legion. However, this charge did not make it to court.
  • Kochkin left Russia in 2021, after the FBK and Navalny’s headquarters were banned. In 2022, he was added to the list of “foreign agents.” After leaving, the activist reported pressure from law enforcement on his sister, who had visited him abroad.