Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree pardoning blogger Valeria Chekalina, known online as Lerchek, releasing her from punishment and clearing her criminal record, infohub.kz reports.

Chekalina, who had been sentenced to five years suspended, had appealed to the Russian head of state for a pardon. It was noted that the blogger needed to travel to the People's Republic of China for treatment: her stage 4 stomach cancer had begun to progress.

The Russian president's decision was announced on November 14. "Guided by the principles of humanity, I hereby pardon Chekalina Valeria Valeryevna, born in 1992, releasing her from the punishment imposed on July 31, 2026 by the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow, and clearing her criminal record," the document reads.

Recall that on July 31, in the case of illegal currency transactions, Valeria Chekalina was sentenced to five years suspended and a fine of 763.5 million rubles, and was banned from administering websites for three years. The Moscow City Court's appellate instance subsequently upheld the verdict.

In 2023, a criminal case was opened against bloggers Valeria and Artyom Chekalin, and they were banned from using the internet—the couple was accused of tax evasion and money laundering.

In 2024, a new criminal case was launched against Russian millionaire blogger Valeria Chekalina and her ex-husband Artyom. Valeria was placed under house arrest.

Last autumn, it was reported that the internet celebrity was expecting a child. In March 2026, Valeria Chekalina's partner Luis Squicciarini said that she had been diagnosed with cancer after giving birth. Her lawyers then stated that she could not move independently. Human rights advocates filed a motion in court requesting a change in the blogger's preventive measure and a suspension of the criminal proceedings against her.

In March 2026, Valeria Chekalina repaid a multi-million debt to the Federal Tax Service. During a hearing on March 17, Lerchek's representative Maxim Kurnosov submitted a document to the court stating that 176 million rubles (over 1 billion tenge) had been transferred to Chekalina's tax account. That same month, the court terminated the bankruptcy case against Chekalina.

In April, Lerchek's ex-husband, Artyom Chekalin, was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony for transferring more than 250 million rubles to accounts in the United Arab Emirates.