Putin pardoned Larchek: blogger freed from punishment and criminal record.
Vladimir Putin signed an amnesty order for blogger Valeria Chekalina, known as Larchek. The president released her from the sentence imposed on July 31, 2026 by the Gagrinsky District Court in Moscow, erasing her criminal record.
"Guided by the principles of humanity, I order: to pardon Valeria Valeryna Chakalina, born in 1992, to release her from the sentence imposed on July 31, 2026 by the Gagarinsky District Court in Moscow, while erasing her criminal record. ".
- says Decree No. 848, signed on November 14.
Larchek rose to fame blogging about motherhood, fitness and weight loss, and later launched a series of commercial marathons. In recent years, she found herself at the center of a high-profile criminal case: according to investigators, Cheklina, together with her ex-husband Artyom Cheklin and a business partner, illegally withdrew more than 251.5 million rubles abroad. On July 31, the court sentenced the blogger to five years of probation and a fine of 763.5 million rubles. She pleaded not guilty.
In February 2026, Cheklina was diagnosed with stage four metastatic stomach cancer. Despite the chemotherapy courses, the disease progresses: according to the blogger herself, metastases appeared in new organs, after the treatment the vision deteriorated and the weakness and sleepiness increased. The defense requested permission to travel to China to undergo CAR-T cell therapy, but the court refused to leave. On November 12, Cheklina appealed to Vladimir Putin for a pardon. Now the decision of the head of state frees her from the imposed punishment and removes her criminal record.
culturally.