An investigator with the Federal Security Service of Russia has opened a criminal case against the owner of the Pepel Telegram channel for justifying terrorism.
The Belgorod regional directorate of the Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, told the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that the channel operator is also accused of supporting banned terrorist organisations. If convicted, the suspect faces up to seven years in prison.
Officials said the suspect publicly expressed support for the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion. Both groups are designated as terrorist organisations and are banned by authorities in Russia. The channel at the centre of the investigation, whose name means Ashes in Russian, operates as Pepel-Belgorod and has an audience of more than 170,000 subscribers.
Suspect location and foreign agent status
According to the security service, the owner of the Pepel channel has already been designated by Russian authorities as a foreign agent. Investigators said the suspect is currently located outside Russia in one of the countries of the South Caucasus, the region spanning Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
Under Russian law, the foreign agent label is applied by the government to individuals and organisations accused of receiving support from abroad or operating under foreign influence. Those placed on the register must follow strict financial reporting rules and attach public disclaimers to all published material.
Belgorod region and related media prosecutions
The FSB is Russia's principal domestic security and counterintelligence agency and the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB. Its regional directorate in Belgorod oversees a western Russian province that sits directly on the border with northeastern Ukraine, where cloud-based messaging platform Telegram serves as a widely used source for regional news updates and public commentary.
Earlier reports also noted another case involving public statements in Russia. In the Kaluga region, a western Russian province located southwest of the capital, a female journalist was sentenced to 6.5 years in a penal colony for calling for strikes on Moscow.
