The criminal case of blogger Lercek has been resumed. What is known

On July 24, the Gagarin Court of Moscow resumed proceedings in the criminal case of blogger Valeria Chekalina (Lerchek). The court hearing is scheduled for 16:00 Moscow time on July 30. The proceedings were suspended on March 16, 2026. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

Grounds for reopening the Lercek case

The trial was resumed at the request of prosecutors Svetlana Tarasova and Natalia Kuzmina. The prosecutor's office also insists on tightening the preventive measure for the blogger, since, according to the prosecution, she violated previously established prohibitions.

The measure of restraint of Lercek and the position of the parties

At the moment, Lercek is on his own recognizance. The prosecutor's office applied to the court to change the preventive measure to house arrest. Konstantin Tretyakov, the blogger's lawyer, said that the current court order does not restrict Chekalina from traveling around Russia — she is only prohibited from changing her place of residence without court permission. Lercek's passport, which was previously seized from her, is now in her hands, which, according to the prosecution, may give her the opportunity to escape from court and investigation abroad.

The essence of Lercek's accusation

Lercek is accused of illegal currency transactions. We are talking about the withdrawal of more than 250 million rubles from Russia to Dubai using forged documents. Earlier, in March 2023, a criminal case was opened against Chekalina and her ex-husband for tax evasion in the amount of about 300 million rubles. The criminal case against Chekalina was transferred to another judge on June 19.

Health status of blogger Lercek

The case was suspended in March 2026 after Lercek was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer. In February 2026, she gave birth to her fourth child. On July 10, Candidate of Medical Sciences, oncologist Yevgeny Cheremushkin commented on the possibility of Lerchek, who was diagnosed with grade IV stomach cancer, participating in court hearings. According to him, in this case we are talking not only about the physical, but also about the legal aspect, which is strictly regulated.