18:16, 24 April 2026

The court ordered the arrest of Semyon Slepakov* in absentia.

A Moscow court has arrested Semyon Slepakov*, a singer and comedian from the Stavropol Territory, in absentia on charges of evading his duties as a foreign agent.

As reported by Caucasian Knot, in early April, investigators opened a criminal case for evading his duties as a foreign agent against Semyon Slepakov*, a singer and comedian from the Stavropol Territory. Investigators announced their intention to place him on the international wanted list.

Comedian and singer Semyon Slepakov*, a native of the Stavropol Territory, was added to the foreign agent list in April 2023. In September 2024, he received his first fine for violating the law on foreign agents in connection with unmarked posts on a Telegram channel. A Moscow court fined the artist 30,000 rubles. In April 2025, he was fined again, 45,000 rubles, and in September, fined again for non-payment. The artist attempted to appeal the fine, but the appellate court refused to consider his lawyer's complaint due to errors in the documents.

According to the investigation, Slepakov* was held administratively liable twice within a year for violating the established procedure for the activities of an individual performing the functions of a foreign agent. While outside the Russian Federation, he distributed the materials on social media without a special banner, RIA Novosti reported today.

"On April 24, 2026, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow ordered Semyon Sergeevich Slepakov* to be remanded in custody for a period of two months, from the moment of his transfer to law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation in the event of extradition or deportation to the territory of the Russian Federation, or from the moment of his actual detention in the territory of the Russian Federation," the press service of the Moscow courts of general jurisdiction said in a statement on Telegram.

As of 6:00 PM Moscow time today, Semyon Slepakov* himself had not commented on the fact that a criminal case had been opened against him and his arrest in absentia on his social media accounts.

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* has been added to the Russian Ministry of Justice's list of foreign agents.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/422709