Russian YouTuber Yuri Khovansky arrested on terrorism charges
On the evening of June 8, Russian video blogger Yuri Khovansky was arrested in St. Petersburg on suspicion of “publicly justifying terrorism.”
According to the investigation, Khovansky publicly performed a song on the Internet in mid-2020, which, according to expert opinion, contained evidence of public incitement to terrorist activities. Unofficial reports say that the criminal case was opened over Khovansky’s song about the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis.
On June 9, the state news agency TASS reported that Khovansky had pleaded guilty to performing a song that “justifies terrorism.”
Yuri Khovansky is a popular Russian video blogger and rapper, who’s YouTube channel has more than 4.4 million subscribers. Since 2019, Khovansky has also been an aide to Vasily Vlasov, a State Duma Deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR).
