20:01, 22 September 2026

The correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" was fined for the activities of Volgograd's "Dozor"*

The court in Volgograd fined former correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" Vyacheslav Yashchenko for publications of the channel "Dozor in Volgograd"*, although Yashchenko insists that he has no relation to this project.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Volgograd activist Yevgeny Kochegin*, now living abroad, was included in the foreign agents registry by the decision of the Ministry of Justice in September 2023. In January 2026, the project "Dozor in Volgograd"* created by him was also included in the foreign agents registry. Representatives of the project then stated that the Ministry of Justice included random and even deceased people among their participants.

In September 2022, law enforcement officers conducted searches at the friends and acquaintances of Yevgeny Kochegin*. In January 2024, they also conducted searches in the house of "Caucasian Knot" journalist Vyacheslav Yashchenko regarding his case - the search was conducted without a court decision, as law enforcement considered Yashchenko to be "a person possessing information about Kochegin's whereabouts*".

The Central District Court of Volgograd considered the administrative case against former journalist of "Caucasian Knot" Vyacheslav Yashchenko. He was charged with disseminating materials without indicating the status of a foreign agent (part 5 of article 19.34 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation) due to the publications of the channel "Dozor in Volgograd"*.

Yashchenko stated that he was never a participant of "Dozor"* and was not involved in the projects of Yevgeny Kochegin*. He considers his administrative prosecution to be politically motivated and aimed at forcing him to leave Volgograd.

"The Ministry of Justice appointed me as a participant in the project for some unclear reason, apparently because I once testified in the case of its organizer Kochegin*. As a result, I am held responsible for any post in this channel without a foreign agent stamp, which is not there. They charged me for a post about the flight of Americans around the Moon," Yashchenko told "Caucasian Knot".

The hearing on the case was initially scheduled for September 9, but was then postponed to September 22. The defense challenged the claim of his involvement in the project "Dozor in Volgograd"*, after which the court decided to summon a representative of the Ministry of Justice, Yashchenko reported.

"Today the case was considered, a fine of 35 thousand rubles was imposed. There are now ten days to appeal after receiving the ruling, we will prepare the complaint," he noted.

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* included in the foreign agents registry.

** the activities of the company Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.

Translated automatically via OpenAI from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/426852