The author of the Telegram channel "What to Do!" Chebanov and four other individuals were detained on September 5, 2021, while attempting to hang a banner on the building of the Central Children's Store. Subsequently, Chebanov and three other individuals were arrested for 15 days on charges of petty hooliganism. It was during the administrative arrest of Chebanov that the criminal prosecution became known. The prosecution alleges that "a group of individuals consisting of no fewer than 11 participants from 7 subjects of Russia created a network of Telegram channels aimed at organizing mass riots on the territory of the Russian Federation during the Unified Voting Days from September 17 to 19, 2021."
On January 24, the Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the first-instance court to extend restrictive measures against the defendants.
On May 23, the Butyrsky Court extended the restrictive measures against all defendants for another three months, until August 30. Ten individuals will remain in pretrial detention, while Maria Platonova will be under house arrest. This was reported by Igor Nagibin's lawyer, Yulia Kuznetsova.
The Butyrsky District Court of Moscow has extended the detention of the defendants in the case of the Telegram channel "What to Do!" Vyacheslav Abramov, Nikita Kreshchuk, Igor Kuznetsov, Alexey Kurlov, Dmitry Lamanov, Igor Nagibin, Ildar Sadriev, Dmitry Chebanov, Zhanna Chernova, and Alexey Yanochkin. The custody of all participants has been extended until May 30, 2023. The only exception is Maria Platonova, the former designer of the headquarters of former State Duma candidate Anastasia Bryukhanova. She has been placed under house arrest for a similar period. It has also been announced that all subsequent hearings in the case will be held behind closed doors. The defendants are accused of incitement to mass riots and incitement of hatred by an organized group. Abramov is also charged with possession of drugs. Furthermore, in July, a criminal case was initiated against Nagibin for illegal possession of explosive substances. During a search at his home in September 2021, gunpowder was found. Nagibin claimed not to know the owner of the substance.