A Russian military blogger and contract soldier known for his open criticism of the Kremlin’s handling of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been placed in pre-trial detention for two months, his Telegram channel said Friday.
The ruling, which The Moscow Times could not independently confirm, comes days after 31-year-old Yegor Guzenko, who uses the callsign “Thirteenth,” was reportedly arrested on accusations of inciting hatred. The charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
Guzenko’s Telegram channel, which has nearly 230,000 subscribers, said Wednesday that he may also be facing “extremism” charges, but it did not elaborate on the nature of those accusations.
“It hurts especially badly to realize this is happening to a man who has been helping our fighters all this time,” his channel wrote. “He never stood on the sidelines and always spoke his mind openly.”
Guzenko was placed on Russia’s wanted list earlier this month following allegations that he abandoned his post within his military unit. He originally signed a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry following an earlier arrest in the fall of 2024 on charges of assaulting a government official.
Guzenko’s arrest in 2024 came shortly after he posted a series of videos criticizing President Vladimir Putin and top military leadership for waiting until 2022 to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, rather than doing so in 2014 when Moscow-backed separatists first began fighting in eastern Ukraine.
In April, Guzenko posted another video criticizing Putin over mobile internet outages. Following that incident, his Telegram channel reported that he had been deployed to the front line.
Ukrainian journalist Denys Kazansky later claimed that Guzenko was sent to the front as punishment for alleged heavy drug use.
The Moscow Times could not verify that claim.
Russian law enforcement authorities have arrested a number of pro-war bloggers and ultranationalists in recent years after they publicly criticized Putin.
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