Russian state adds journalist and mega-popular YouTuber Yury Dud to its terrorist and extremist registry

Russia's financial intelligence agency, Rosfinmonitoring, has included journalist Yury Dud on its list of terrorists and extremists. The asterisk next to Dud's name signifies that there is "information about [his] involvement in terrorism." However, there is no known criminal case against him for terrorism charges. In April 2022, Russia's Justice Ministry labeled Dud as a "foreign agent."

In the summer of 2025, a criminal investigation commenced into Dud's alleged breach of his "foreign agent" obligations. In November of the same year, a court sentenced Dud in his absence to one year and 10 months in a penal colony. In April 2026, Dud's YouTube channel shared a nearly five-hour interview with Denis Kapustin, the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC).

Russia has labeled the RVC as a "terrorist organization." Shortly after the interview's release, the Investigative Committee's head, Alexander Bastrykin, directed officials to "conduct a legal review" of Dud's actions. This report, written by a Meduza journalist and translated from Russian using an AI model, adheres to Meduza's strict editorial standards and undergoes a thorough review by an editor before publication. If you discover any errors in this translation, please contact reports@meduza.io.