The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow sent 31-year-old soloist of the Tuva State Philharmonic, Tsetsendelger Tegshee, to a pre-trial detention center on January 29 on charges of "espionage," as discovered by "Mediazona"*.
The details of the case are unknown, but under Russian law, the espionage article can only be applied if the person has citizenship of another country. It is likely that the arrested singer has Mongolian citizenship.
Tegshee's social media has not been updated for more than two months, with the last posts dated January 25, but the singer's wife, Elena Kuular, denies that he has been detained. Meanwhile, Tegshee, along with Kuular, also an artist of the Tuva Philharmonic, was supposed to participate in a concert on February 10 at the House of Folk Art in Kyzyl, but the "Mediazona" box office reported that the concert was canceled.
On the "Cultural Heritage of Tuva" website, associated with the republican Ministry of Culture, it is stated that in 2010 Tegshee entered the Kyzyl School of Arts, and since 2018 he has been working at the Tuva Philharmonic. In January 2024, the head of Tuva, Vladislav Khovalyg, summing up the results of the "Year of National Unity," awarded gratitude to Tegshee and his wife.
In response to a question about the soloist's detention, the Tuva Philharmonic said they "have no idea" about it and hung up. Meanwhile, on February 6, the Philharmonic's "VKontakte" page published a birthday greeting to Tegshee—by this time he had already been arrested.
* Recognized as a "foreign agent" in Russia.