Andrei Kurshin
Andrei Kurshin, born 1988, Moscow. Charges: Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code (Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government…); “Andrei Kurshin's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of Russia”. Sentence (August 7, 2024): 6 years 6 months' imprisonment in a general regime colony, ban on administration of Internet sites for 4 years. Status: imprisoned; place of detention: Penal colony No. 5, Kirov Oblast.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Engineers · Anti-war cases, Cases against "foreign agents"
Sentence
6 years 6 months
imprisonment in a general regime colony, ban on administration of Internet sites for 4 years
Upheld July 24, 2025
Charges
- Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code — Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government agencies, or mercenaries (based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on grounds of hatred or enmity in relation to any social group)
Full wording of the charges
The reason for the case was two posts published in Kurshin's Telegram channel in the autumn of 2022: one was about a missile attack on a dam on a reservoir near Kryvyi Rih, the other about the shelling of a maternity hospital in the Zaporizhzhya region.
Latest event
July 24, 2025 — cassation
The court upheld the verdict.
Timeline
· Cassation ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 6 years 6 months
· Added to the register of “foreign agents”
· Preventive measure: house arrest
· Persecution begins
Andrei Kurshin's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of Russia
Criminal case
Andrei Kurshin's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of Russia
- Case number
- 01-0504/2024
Thematic group: Anti-war case
Write a letter
Facility: Penal colony No. 5, Kirov Oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
613040, Кировская область, г. Кирово-Чепецк, ул. Овражная, 16, ФКУ «ИК № 5 УФСИН России по Кировской области», Куршин Андрей Владимирович, 1988 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
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.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.