Russia’s trainspotters have spent years documenting the country’s railways. Amid the war, their hobby has put them in the crosshairs of the security services.
On October 14, a Moscow court ordered the arrest of Denis Eskov, 35, and Anatoly Nagornov, 40, the administrators of RailGallery, a photo website devoted to railroads. According to investigators, they illegally accessed certain data and published it on RailGallery. What that information was has not been disclosed. Eskov and Nagornov face five to ten years in prison. Photographs of special trains…
Russia's rail enthusiasts, known as trainspotters, have meticulously documented the country's railways for years. However, their hobby has now placed them in the security services' crosshairs due to the ongoing war. In October 2023, a Moscow court ordered the arrest of Denis Eskov, 35, and Anatoly Nagornov, 40, administrators of RailGallery, a photo website dedicated to railroads.
They face up to five to ten years in prison, though the specific details of what they allegedly illegally accessed and published remain undisclosed. The charges stem from accusations of "unlawful interference with critical information infrastructure." Investigators claim the RailGallery administrators accessed and copied data, then posted it on their website.
This action allegedly caused "serious consequences," though the specifics are unclear. The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU links the charges to the use of ASUT, a computer system used by Russian Railways to manage locomotives and resources. Eskov and Nagornov reportedly needed access to ASUT to track specific trains for their photography.
Three sources within the RailGallery community confirm they accessed ASUT using either their work affiliations with organizations linked to Russian Railways or other methods. Leaked data reveals both had roles in 2022, with Nagornov as deputy head of a road electrical engineering laboratory and Eskov employed by JSC NII Stali. The RailGallery site ceased functioning the day after their arrest, and a statement from the site's team confirmed the administrators' detention as a surprise.
Speculation suggests the arrest may be tied to photographs of Vladimir Putin's armored train found on RailGallery. Railroad enthusiasts, or trainspotters, photograph various trains, from unusual locomotives to ordinary ones, driven by a desire to capture every detail about a train, including its location, condition, and production history.
Written by urgent.news from Meduza (English)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
