Regional state censorship has reached the "holy of holies" – Nikita Mikhalkov. As reported by the VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info, a criminal slander case has been opened in the Lipetsk Region against Lipetsk Region Governor Igor Artamonov due to a report on Mikhalkov's program "Besogon TV" aired on the Rossiya 24 television channel. Breaking into Mikhalkov's home is costly, so officers from the local Center E chose to search the 75-year-old pensioner whose son provided the link to the "Besogon" report.
On October 17, 2025, Besogon TV aired a story in which Eduard Kiryanov, a businessman from the Lipetsk region who owns EKOPTITS, told Mikhalkov about Artamonov's constant extortions to a certain Lipetsk Region Social and Economic Development Fund, which is managed by JSC Development Corporation.
"The first time, on March 4, 2023, the businessman was asked for 10,000,000 rubles. He gave it. The second time, on July 28, 2023, they asked for 5,000,000 rubles, and he also gave it. The third time, on April 20, 2024, they asked for 20,000,000 rubles, and he also gave it. And the fourth time, they decided to go big and asked for 40,000,000 rubles, and he didn't give it! He didn't give it! Because he didn't see what was going on behind all this, and where was it going?! What was done with this money?! Who was helped?! ...What kind of letter is this? Here it is. From the Governor of the Lipetsk Region, dated January 31, 2025, No. IA-468. "In line with the principles of social responsibility for organizations conducting business in the Lipetsk Region, we ask you to provide financial assistance in the amount of 40,000,000 rubles to assist us," Mikhalkov said on the program.
Kiryanov stated that after refusing to pay the fund 40 million rubles, Artamonov began to obstruct his business in every possible way, pressuring him and effectively banning the construction of a plant with a capacity of over 50,000 tons of poultry meat per year.
Soon, a post appeared on a small channel in the city of Yelets with a link to the Besogon TV report.
On October 29, 2025, at 8 a.m., a large group of officers from the Center for Combating Extremism (CCE) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Lipetsk Region, including the First Deputy Head of the Center for Combating Extremism, Alexander Perepelkin, and riot police, broke into the home of 75-year-old Yelets resident Natalia Polyakova. It was later revealed that the officers were acting on a warrant to conduct a search and rescue operation at the home... under Articles 212 and 280 of the Russian Criminal Code. These articles relate to organizing mass riots accompanied by violence, pogroms, arson, destruction of property, and armed resistance to a government official.
As a result, an old computer, laptop, flash drives, a voice recorder, and other items were confiscated.
The pensioner's son, Gennady Makarov, was forcibly taken to the Department of Internal Affairs of the Lipetsk Region, where he was held... for 24 hours (without any formal documentation of these "activities"). Makarov was eventually asked to provide a written statement. As it turned out, there was no criminal case at all at that point.
Here's how Gennady himself describes what happened: "They demanded that I write a confession admitting that this Telegram channel belonged to me. At the same time, they tried to "scare" me, saying that they would set me up, that I would be "f**ked," that they would lock me up for "treason," put me in a "rooster" cell, put a "violent rooster" next to me, or put me in a cell with only Chechens or Dagestanis (A.S. Perepelkin said this at least 3 times), and that they would humiliate me there, so much so that right now they would dunk my head in the toilet... Timkov, the head of the Center for Combating Extremism in the Lipetsk Region, came to that very same operatives' office on October 29th at approximately 7 p.m. and said to me: "Sit down and write a confession, we'll give you a written undertaking not to leave, otherwise there will be a criminal case for treason." I have never heard so much rudeness and swearing every other word in my entire life. ... Maxim Popov, who was also present, told me: "...we can plant the murder weapon on you. We currently have a knife in our safe from the Usman murder case; your fingerprints could be found on it. And your card could be used to make a payment to the account of Maltsev (Artpodgotovka), a recognized terrorist, which you don't know about—and that's treason." Perepelkin also said that I should record my apology on camera, that I repent and apologize, that I "recognize the current constitutional order, the current president, and support the SVO."
It later emerged that this whole spectacle was precisely because of that very post with a link to Mikhalkov's program. On October 29, a criminal case was opened under Article 128.1, Part 5 of the Russian Criminal Code—for slander against Lipetsk Region Governor Artamonov.
Understandably, Artamonov was very offended by Mikhalkov's program, but the latter meets with Putin on a regular basis. So he decided to take it out on an ordinary Yelets resident, setting the entire leadership of the local Center for Extremism and the OMON riot police on him.
Gennady Makarov is now filing complaints against the actions of the security forces with the Investigative Committee of Russia and the Prosecutor General's Office, hoping to achieve justice.
