Court District No. 214 of Moscow's Lomonosovsky District found Slepakov guilty under Part 2 of Article 330.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers failure to fulfill the duties of a 'foreign agent.' The verdict was handed down in absentia.
Prosecutor Marina Lvova had requested the same punishment, while the defense asked for acquittal and dismissal of the case. According to the investigation, in January 2026 the comedian published several posts on Instagram without the 'foreign agent' label, 'feeling hostility toward the activities of the President of Russia and the armed forces.' One such post was a video parodying the song 'Matushka-Zemlya' ('Mother Earth'), which included the line: 'Dictatorlings-dictatorship, eternal presidentling!'
Slepakov sent the court a statement saying he left the country in 2022, had not posted any materials 'on the territory of the Russian Federation' or under its jurisdiction, and had not been notified about the court proceedings. His lawyer, Alexander Aldaev, said the indictment did not specify which materials were being charged against his client, and that the inspection report of Slepakov's page listed only one post.
In court, Asiya Matyunina, head of a department at Roskomnadzor (Russia's media regulator), testified. When the defense asked what harm was caused by posts without the label, she replied: 'A person [reading the posts] must understand that this is a representative of a foreign state. Critical thinking must be activated... Even if a "foreign agent" writes "Hello!", it must be labeled.'
Slepakov was added to the 'foreign agents' registry in spring 2023. In 2024 and 2025, he was fined under administrative articles for posts on Telegram without the label. In April 2026, prosecutors announced a criminal case, and the comedian was placed on the federal wanted list and arrested in absentia. In 2024, Svetlana Maslyakova, editor-in-chief of KVN TV, was fined for Slepakov's appearance on air without mentioning his 'foreign agent' status.