After the outbreak of the great war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, the Russian authorities began to persecute popular bloggers. Ayaz Shabutdinov was sentenced to seven years in prison for fraud, Arsene Markaryan to four and a half years for insulting a Soviet soldier, and Elena Blinovskaya received the same sentence for tax evasion and money laundering. At least three other bloggers – Dmitry PortnyaginAlexandra Mitroshina and Valery Chekalina are awaiting sentencing on similar charges. Chikalina, among other things, divorced her husband and gave birth to a fourth child. Her new partner told her she had cancer.
Who is Valeria Chekalina?
Chekalina, known as Lerchek (ler_chek), has more than 10 million followers on Instagram. She started blogging after giving birth to twins in 2016, and posted content about family and healthy living. Chekalina became famous for her “brilliant” photo shoots and regular prize draws among subscribers. She gave them money, smartphones, cars and even housing in Moscow. Forbes magazine (which during the pandemic Running She is among the Russian bloggers who earn the most on Instagram) Chekalina He saidIn a year and a half I’ve given away 70-75 cars on Instagram.
In the same interview, Chikalina admitted that initially her relatives were against her blogging career, but when things began to develop, they began to participate in promoting the blog. Chikalina involved the whole family in filming the content, from the children to her husband’s parents. The same husband, Artem Shikalin, also turned into a popular Instagram blogger and, in addition, was responsible for “the numbers” – including paying taxes – in the family business, Forbes wrote. The Chekalins received income from marathons and training courses on how to lose weight and earn money, as well as from the sale of cosmetics and underwear.
Why was Valeria Chikalina accused of tax evasion?
The first criminal case was opened in the spring of 2023. Valeria was accused of tax evasion, and Artem was accused of complicity. According to investigators, the Chekalin family exceeded the permissible annual income limit of the simplified tax system, but instead of switching to a joint system, they began to divide their business and record profits to different individual entrepreneurs, thus paying less than 300 million rubles.
A few weeks later, it became known that there was another criminal case against the Chekalins – about money laundering. The couple allegedly converted 130 million rubles into dollars, “thus concealing the connection between legitimate funds and the criminal source of their origin.” The investigation did not determine why this income was considered criminal. It may have been considered part of unpaid taxes.
Summer 2023 Shikalin came To interview pro-government blogger Vyacheslav Manucharov. They said they earned 10 billion rubles in three years, but they divided the income into different individual entrepreneurs and thus paid taxes at a rate of 6% instead of 35%. According to Al-Chikalin, they used this scheme because they saw that “everyone [блогеры] This is what they do.”[Надеялись]Maybe he’ll hook you up. This happened because of our stupidity. Valeria stressed that there was no time to even sit and think.
Due to criminal cases, the Chekalins were banned from connecting to the Internet and their accounts were blocked. So, they said, they borrowed money from a friend to pay off their tax debt. By November 2023, the couple will finally get married paid With the tax authorities. Valeria and Artem paid about 500 million rubles: this amount included the debt itself, penalties and fines. By March 2024, both criminal cases had been filed against the Chekalin family It was closed.
How did the third criminal case appear?
Having dealt with criminal cases, Valeria was going to Continue to work – but without Artem. In March 2024 she foot For divorce. In August, when it became official, she thanked her ex-husband “for these years and the children.” The Chekalins were together for 14 years, and they had two sons and a daughter. Valeria and Artem to reject Comment on the reasons for separation and He does Subscribers understand that they are trying to maintain a good relationship.
Three months later, the former spouses were involved in a new criminal case – the third in a row. They were accused of using forged documents to withdraw 250 million rubles from Russia to the UAE in 2021-2022, which they obtained from fitness marathons on Instagram. The third person involved in the case is the bloggers’ business partner, Roman Vishnyak. He fully admitted his guilt and testified against the Chikalins. The court considered his case in a special way in January 2026 convicted Up to two and a half years in prison. The Chekalins have not yet been sentenced. As a preventive measure, they were placed under house arrest and banned from using the Internet.
Fourth birth and illness
In November 2025, it became known that Valeria Chikalina was waiting for her fourth child. About this Announce Her new partner is Louis Squicciarini. This is a dance teacher and choreographer from Argentina who lives in Russia. Chikalina took tango lessons from him.
Valeria’s mother Elvira wrote: “Now, in a difficult time for us, a new life has been born and another heart has begun to beat. As a mother, I am very happy to see how my daughter is loved despite all the difficulties. Luis has been with us all this time, helping us morally and materially. Together they are a wonderful couple, and I am sure they will be wonderful parents.” She keeps her daughter’s pages while she is banned from using the Internet.
After news of Valeria’s pregnancy, news of her health problems began to appear. At the end of December she He hits To the hospital with the threat of miscarriage. Shortly thereafter, she was hospitalized again and… working on (Chekalina’s family did not provide details about this operation; all that is known is that it was not related to pregnancy.) And in early February the ambulance taken away Valery is admitted to the hospital complaining of numbness in his leg. For this reason, Chikalina missed one of the court hearings in her criminal case.
February 26, TASS source I mentionedThat Valeria gave birth to a son. Louis Squicciarini confirmed the baby’s birth in early March. he He saidShe and Valeria came for an ultrasound, but she was urgently taken for a caesarean section due to… It turns outThat the baby may suffocate in the womb. Squicciarini added: “Thank God everything ended well. <…> Unfortunately, Valeria’s health is still in doubt. “I ask you to understand, but we are not ready to reveal the details yet.”
On March 8 it is maleThat Chikalina was diagnosed with cancer:
After Valeria was born, we went home, but soon she started to feel pain again and we had to go to the clinic. On the day of birth, our doctor noticed that something was wrong with Lyra’s placenta, so she sent her for a tissue examination (I will say right away that our son is healthy). We got the result – malignant cells were found. We checked again and the result was confirmed. All these weeks we have been doing a lot of research to find the source of the cancer. Spinal surgery was also performed, as several vertebrae had already begun to collapse. Metastases were found in the lungs.
Squicciarini did not specify whether the source of the metastases had been found. But he confirmed that Valeria was tormented by pain a year ago, but then she was not allowed to break the house arrest regime and visit a doctor.
Meanwhile, the Gagarinsky Court in Moscow continues to consider the Chekalin family case. The next meeting is scheduled to be held on March 16. Valerie, according to words Her lawyer has already been released from hospital, but it is not known whether she will be able to attend the trial. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Shikalina Can be counted To postpone the sentence as a mother of children under 14 years old.