Andrey Kurshin

Andrey Kurshin is a Telegram based milblogger running the channel "Moscow Calling". Kurshin gained noteriaty for being arrested by Russian authorities for discrediting the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1]

Andrey Kurshin
NationalityRussian
Other namesMoskva
Occupation(s)Milblogger
software engineer
Years active2015-2023
Known forMoscow Calling

Biography

Kurshin fought for the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" from 2014 to 2015 under the call-sign "Moskva" during the War in the Donbass. Upon returning to Russia, Kurshin started the Moscow Calling channel to cover the Ukraine-Russia conflict and notably adopting a more moderate position on the conflict.[2] While running Moscow Calling, Kurshin also worked as a software engineer for the firm Rif, which develops weapons-related software, and claims to have contacts in high places within the Russian military.[2]

Moscow Calling

Moscow Calling was run by Kurshin anonymously and frequently espoused ultranationalist views and become one of the leading milbloggers criticizing the supposed inadequacy and ineptitude of the Russian Ministry of Defense's planning, fighting, and leadership during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[2] Kurshin would be doxxed by his fellow milbloggers as the administrator of Moscow Calling after joking about the assassination of Vladlen Tatarsky in April 2023.[3][1] Kurshin frequently posted in favor of fellow dissident ultranationalist Igor Girkin.[4] In May 2023, he claimed that pro-war activists threw a brick through his mother's house's window.[5] At the time of his arrest Moscow Calling had 87,000 followers.[2]

Arrest

On August 31, 2023, shortly after Moscow Calling made a post of a video of members of the 205th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade complaining about poor uniforms and shoddy equipment, Kurshin would be arrested at a train station.[5][6] State news agency TASS reported that Kurshin was arrested for violating Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of Russia for the "dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian Armed Forces."[7][4]

Several of Moscow Calling's post where used as evidence in court, namely, posts between September 14 and November 23, 2022, covering Russian shelling of Zaporizhia Oblast and a strike near a dam on the Inhulets River near Kherson. Facing ten years in prison, Kurshin plead guilty to the charges on September 1 in a hope to get a reduced sentence.[8]

See also

References
  1. Lister, Tim; Chernova, Anna; Tanno, Sophie. "Ultra-nationalist military blogger arrested in Moscow". CNN. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  2. "Blogger Andrey Kurshin arrested in Moscow on suspicion of spreading 'fakes' about Russian army". Meduza. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  3. "Propagandists blamed security officials, feminists and each other for the death of Tatarsky". russianfreepress.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  4. Mappes, Grace; Bailey, Riley; Harward, Christina; Evans, Angelica; Clark, Mason. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 31, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  5. "Andrey Kurshin, the administrator of the Moscow Calling channel, was detained in Moscow". newsinfrance.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  6. Morrison, Dan. "Blogger Arrested in Moscow After Mocking a Video of Russian Soldiers". The Messenger. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  7. "В Москве задержали администратора Telegram-канала Moscow Calling Андрея Куршина". TASS. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  8. Bailey, Riley; Mappes, Grace; Wolkov, Nicole; Evans, Angelica; Clark, Mason. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 1, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
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