From the trunk to the pre-trial detention center

Kidnapped blogger Areg Shchepikhin is being tried for insulting Muslims, but his kidnappers remain free. Report from the court

In Moscow's Presnensky Court, the trial against blogger Areg Shchepikhin is coming to an end - the same one who in June was dragged out of the Yaroslavsky railway station by four men in civilian clothes and shoved into the trunk of a black Mercedes amid cries for help. Now he is being tried for extremism and insulting the feelings of believers for videos on social networks where he insulted Muslim shrines and threatened Chechens, Jews and “the peoples of the Caucasus.” After the incident at the station, six security officials were released on their own recognizance in a criminal case of abuse of power and kidnapping, and Shchepikhin himself was sent to a pre-trial detention center. He fully admitted his guilt, but claims that he gave his testimony under pressure.

“They weren’t kidnapped, they were detained”

On the evening of June 3, eyewitnesses filmed on their phones how, at the Yaroslavl station in Moscow, four people in civilian clothes carried 39-year-old Areg Shchepikhin to a Mercedes car with a flashing light and AMR license plates, and then stuffed him into the trunk. “Help, please! Call the police. This is not the police! — the blogger asked for help. Judging by the footage, Shchepikhin was carried unhindered through the entire station building.

Closer to midnight, the press service of the transport police announced that they had begun an investigation. Investigative actions took place at the Yaroslavl station; in addition to the police, there was a traffic police vehicle and a Russian Guard paddy wagon on duty there. The car of the alleged thieves was stopped near the Kyiv highway, but Shchepikhin was not inside.

The next morning, June 4, the Minister of the Chechen Republic for National Policy, External Relations, Press and Information Akhmed Dudayev said that Shchepikhin “was not kidnapped, but detained by law enforcement officers.” The minister clarified that the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs is conducting an investigation under articles of insulting the feelings of believers and inciting hatred.

According to Dudayev, Shchepikhin publicly expressed extremist views, called for ethnic cleansing, insulted God and “declared his intention to rape young children.”

The minister added that the security forces “essentially saved his life, or at least his health,” and the detention took place without violence, even taking into account the fact that Shchepikhin tried to escape and resisted.

At the same time, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported the detention of six people who seized the blogger at the Yaroslavl station. They were taken to the police station, a criminal case was opened against them for abuse of power and kidnapping (Articles 286 and 126 of the Criminal Code), they spent the night in the department, then they were released on their own recognizance.

Baza later published an interview with Shchepikhin, on whose face bruises and bruises were visible. He said that in the evening at the station he had a conflict, during which he called the police, but they did not have time to arrive. The blogger explained that he was “kidnapped by Chechens,” taken out of town and interrogated. Among other things, they clarified the contacts of parents and spouses, and also learned about connections with Ukraine and the opposition.

“They terrorized me on social networks for a long time, about a year. And I endured all the time. People have already started telling me that “you suffered.” I felt uncomfortable. Well, I sent Chechens and Muslims, and they reacted to this,” said Shchepikhin.

Who is Shchepikhin?

Entrepreneur and blogger Areg Shchepikhin is from Khimki near Moscow. From the case materials it is known that he studied at the university to become a tax officer and worked as a bailiff. He is divorced and has a young child from his previous marriage. Helps the family financially.

The media write about Shchepikhin that at one time he acted as a business coach. On social networks, Shchepikhin calls himself a hero of Russia, Minister of the Future of the Russian Federation, Skolkovo ambassador and manager of the SME corporation.

In 2019, Shchepikhin took part in the “Russia – Land of Opportunities” competition. He then presented the Icon application, which “will help you look good and develop a sense of taste,” but the startup failed to launch. Then Shchepikhin tried to develop his business club “The First,” where he talked about “reality transurfing” and posted photographs with celebrities.

According to media reports,

in 2022, Shchepikhin tried to create the “New Russian World” party, within the framework of which he planned to teach young people how to earn money. On social networks he shared posts about how he “reached the maximum in sex” by sleeping with a girl without a single word.

Three videos and an admission of guilt

Shchepikhin himself was accused of extremism and insulting the feelings of believers. On June 7 he was sent to a pre-trial detention center. The investigation of the case took only a month and a half. The blogger was charged with three videos. The first appeared on June 2 on Krasnopresnenskaya embankment: in it Shchepikhin insults Muslims and demands that they leave Russia. The other two, filmed the next day, were seen as showing signs of extremism.

According to investigators, on June 2, 2025, Shchepikhin posted a video on Instagram* in which Muslim shrines - Allah and the Koran - became the “object of a criminal attack.” Experts considered this an insult to the feelings of believers and threats of violence “on the basis of nationality,” primarily against the Chechens.

On June 3, the blogger recorded a new video near the Empire Tower in Moscow City. On it, experts found “humiliation of dignity” and threats against Chechens, Dagestanis, Jews, Muslims and “representatives of the peoples of the Caucasus.” The same video formed the basis for accusations of public calls for extremism.

On the same day, already at the Yaroslavl station, Shchepikhin published another appeal “to the peoples of Russia,” in which he again spoke negatively about Muslims and called for the murder of Jews.

In September, the blogger’s case reached the Presnensky Court in Moscow. At the first meeting, on September 9, after the prosecutor delivered the indictment, Shchepikhin addressed Judge Elena Abramova, saying that he fully admitted his guilt. However, he added: during the investigation, procedural norms were violated, and violence was used against him.

"Fatherland" summoned for questioning

On September 29, prosecution witnesses spoke in the Presnensky courtroom. Most of them are “outraged Muscovites” who came across Shchepikhin’s videos in Telegram channels. According to these people, they “decided to show civic activity and patriotism,” so they went for questioning to the investigator.

Before the start of the meeting, Shchepikhin met his new appointed lawyer, Oksana Sotnikova, wrote down her phone number and asked in a low voice:

- Will I get my sentence today?

- No, today is the interrogation of witnesses from the prosecution.

Tatyana Morozova was the first to enter the courtroom.

- Oh, he's alive. “I didn’t think he was here,” the witness was surprised when she noticed the defendant in the “aquarium.”

She said that in early June she saw Shchepikhin’s video on Telegram, where he called on the Armenians to “come beat the Chechens and Dagestanis.”

— I reacted negatively to this; I also called on the Russians against all Muslims! We don't need this unrest at all. This is unacceptable to me. We don’t have such a fascist ideology,” Morozova said, adding that she “felt scared and threatened.”

Natalya Kopylova was questioned next. She also saw that video on social networks and talked about other videos where the defendant spoke negatively about Putin.

“This is impossible for a normal person.” We have a multinational country. Moreover, now the SVO is underway, guys of all nationalities are fighting side by side, losing lives. It is a betrayal to actually call for a coup d’etat. I was outraged as a patriot and a Russian. Who should you be?! - the witness is indignant.

She perceived Shchepikhin’s video as “extremism and fascism.” Kopylova began to argue why to pit nations against each other when “we have already seen all this in the 20th century.”

- I can explain! “I am a candidate for president of Russia,” the defendant tried to intervene. - Before coming here, I announced this...

“Well, well, you can say whatever you want,” Kopylova snapped.

The judge interrupted them and invited Shchepikhin to ask questions to the witness, but he refused.

“Thank God,” Kopylova exhaled and left the hall.

Following her, witness Aidyn Huseynov approached the podium. According to him, he watched a video of Shchepikhin on YouTube with calls and “saw when he was carried out like a lamb [at the station].”

— I was shocked [from the video with calls]: how can you say such things in Russia and offer such provocations?! He called for beating the “bearded men.” Beat and kill your citizens. He called on nationalists like himself to join him and destabilize the center of Moscow,” the witness noted. - If people like him are not stopped, then they can do more... I speak as a politician, although I do not belong to any party.

After interrogating Huseynov, the prosecutor read out his testimony, which he gave during the investigation. Shchepikhin reacted sharply: according to him, the text clearly did not coincide with the style in which the witness spoke in court.

— The speech [in the protocol] was presented very competently. These are not your words, you didn’t say that just now. They wrote to you and gave you a sign,” the accused addressed the witness.

- If I sit down and write, the only thing is... I didn’t write anything. “I can speak differently,” Huseynov said indistinctly.

At this point he was released and summoned to Sergei Gulyaev’s hall. He was also outraged by Shchepikhin’s video and specially wrote down quotes from the video on a piece of paper and read them to the judge.

“It doesn’t cause anything other than anger.” The Constitution states that Russia is a multinational and multi-religious country,” the witness continued. “We already ran into this in 1917 and 1991, and we see the same thing in Ukraine.

- You are working. Did you go to court specifically? - Shchepikhin tried to ask the witness a question. -Who is picking you up?

“Fatherland,” answered Gulyaev.

“He was summoned to court by the court,” explained presiding officer Abramova.

The remaining witnesses did not appear for questioning. The prosecutor proposed to read out their testimony.

- Why is this? You don't have to read it. “We already know everything,” the defendant hesitated.

“We must investigate them according to the law,” the judge insisted. Shchepikhin agreed.

The interrogation protocols turned out to be similar to each other: the same words about outrage and threat. After reading them, the prosecutor announced that all the evidence had been presented. At the next meeting, October 13, Shchepikhin is expected to be questioned and the parties will debate.

* The social network belongs to the Meta company, whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation.