Belyaev was reportedly stabbed in the chest in front of his office at the headquarters of Roskomnadzor, just a few minutes’ walk from the Kremlin, and died on the spot.
Belyaev was a senior official at Roskomnadzor, the agency that enforces repressive measures over the internet in Russia, including blocking websites, throttling traffic and censoring Western platforms like X and YouTube. As the deputy head of the Department for Control and Supervision of Communications, he played a key role in the implementation of those measures.
According to the available information, the attack was carried out by a 16-year-old teenager who, it is claimed, had been planning the crime for a long time due to his hatred for the agency’s censoring role. To date, the Russian authorities have not publicly confirmed Belyaev’s death, and the case, according to local sources, has practically disappeared from the public eye, allegedly on the order of the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Independent media report that state and pro-government newsrooms have been ordered to maintain complete silence and censorship about this event. The only indirect clue that Belyaev died is the cancellation of his personal and tax documents on January 19, which in Russia usually happens after the official registration of death.
Russian authorities declined to comment on the entire case.
(Vijesti.ba)
