Teen arrested in killing of Russian censorship official as state media stays silent

Authorities in Moscow have arrested a 16-year-old suspect in connection with the murder of a high-level official at Russia’s state censorship agency, Roskomnadzor. According to Meduza’s sources, state and pro-Kremlin media outlets were immediately advised not to publish any information about the killing, which reportedly took place at Roskomnadzor’s headquarters on January 19. It was first reported on Friday by VChK-OGPU, an anonymous Telegram channel that claims to have sources inside Russia’s security services. Here’s what we know about the incident.

The suspect, identified only as Artyom A., has been accused of murdering Alexey Belyaev, the deputy head of the Roskomnadzor department responsible for Internet censorship. The fatal attack reportedly took place at the entrance of Roskomnadzor’s headquarters in Moscow on January 19, as Belyaev was leaving the building. 

According to VChK-OGPU, FSB agents arrived at the scene immediately after the incident and “completely classified all information.” Russian law enforcement, news agencies, and Telegram channels linked to the security services haven’t released any reports on the attack. VChK-OGPU’s authors claim to have learned about it by stumbling upon online posts from the suspect’s mother, identified as Inna A., seeking a lawyer for her son. 

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In the posts, which have since been deleted, Inna A. said that investigators have accused Artyom of fatally stabbing Belyaev in the chest, and charged him with murder motivated by political or ideological hatred. She also wrote that investigators describe Artyom as a “staunch opponent of Roskomnadzor’s activities” and claim the murder was planned. 

Citing leaked data, VChK-OGPU and the independent investigative outlet Agentstvo reported that Belyaev had worked for Roskomnadzor since 2011. At the time of the alleged attack, he was serving as the deputy head of the Department of Control and Supervision in the Communications Sector. Among other things, this department is responsible for blocking websites, throttling traffic, and combating the circumvention of online restrictions. 

In 2017, Belyaev received a letter of thanks from President Vladimir Putin for his “role in ensuring the reliable and uninterrupted operation” of the communications infrastructure behind Vybory, the automated system used for conducting remote electronic voting in Russia. According to Agentstvo, Belyaev’s passport and taxpayer identification number were declared invalid on January 19, the date of his alleged murder. 

Agentstvo and VChK-OGPU have linked Artyom A. to several social media pages, including a YouTube channel where he posted short videos featuring a cartoon alter ego. The channel, which was created five years ago, currently has just five videos. 

The most recent recording, uploaded on December 31, features the cartoon character against the backdrop of Putin’s New Year’s address. The character explains that the channel had a “shitty” year and that it probably won’t continue releasing videos. The character also says that the channel had to take down many of its videos “due to an absurd situation.” 

While the channel’s most recent video has only around 100 views, two others uploaded in fall 2024 have garnered nearly 20,000. As Agentstvo notes, Roskomnadzor began throttling YouTube playback speeds in August 2024, rendering the popular video platform practically unusable. 

Inna A. blocked Agentstvo’s journalists after reading their request for comment.