Andrei Kurshin

Engineer at "RIF", an NPO (scientific production association) that produces software for the Russian army. He holds the second form of access to state secrets. According to the Vazhnye Istorii (Important Stories) media, in 2014 Kurshin fought on the side of the self-proclaimed DNR and had the call sign "Moscow". Later, he took a more moderate stance and created the telegram channel Moscow Calling, in which he analysed the mistakes of both Russian and Ukrainian military commanders. On August 31, 2023, he was detained on the charges of spreading deliberately false information about the Armed Forces. Kurshin pleaded guilty. He was placed under house arrest. On October 4, law enforcers in Volgograd searched the house of Elena Penchuk, who used to be the administrator of the Moscow Calling channel. The reason was that Kurshin allegedly wrote messages to her for a month, violating the prohibition to use the Internet. Penchuk said that she had not administered Moscow Calling for a long time. The person who wrote to her from a new account introduced himself as Kurshin and offered to return to work, but she refused. On August 7, 2024, Kurshin was sentenced to six and a half years in a general regime colony.