The Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg has sentenced a Tyumen resident to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony over paid reactions (“Stars”) that he left under posts on Telegram channels. As Mediazona reports, 57-year-old Mikhail Antonovich was found guilty of financing terrorism (Article 205.1, Part 1.1 of the Russian Criminal Code), which carries a sentence of 8 to 15 years.
This is the first known conviction involving the use of Telegram Stars, though media outlets had previously reported on other cases that were opened over Stars.
According to the case file, Antonovich, who was detained in December 2025, had left Stars under posts on the channels NEVZOROV, BEREZOVIEW (Taras Berezovets) WAR IN UKRAINE, Nakipelo Michael Nacke, and Sasha Shpak Official. Investigators counted 130 Stars with a total value of 292.99 rubles $3.50.
As the Memorial Human Rights Group reports, investigators consider these channels to be involved in “propaganda of terrorism and media support for the terrorist organizations the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps, and the Azov Brigade, including organizing financing channels for the purchase of weapons and subsequent drone strikes on Russian territory, as well as organizing terrorist attacks on Russian soil. The content of the channels indicates that funds, including the virtual currency Telegram Stars, are monetized and subsequently directed toward financing the activities of the aforementioned terrorist organizations.”
On Sept. 22, 2026, Memorial published an appeal to Telegram founder Pavel Durov asking him to make paid reactions in the messenger anonymous and to take other measures to protect users from persecution by the Russian state.
