Accountability

British YouTube star behind ‘Bald and Bankrupt’ detained in Russia

Published

4 years ago

May 11, 2022

A British YouTuber has been detained detained at the Russian spaceport of Baikonur in Kazakhstan, according to officials.

Rich Benjamin, who is known by his video blogging account, Bald and Bankrupt, along with a Belarusian woman were apprehended near one of the launch pads at Baikonur and are currently being held by city authorities.

Dmitry Rogozin, chief of space agency Roscosmos, said on Telegram that Benjamin and Alina Tseliupa had been “linked to the organisation of illegal actions,” but gave no further details. He added that investigations are ongoing. He posted photos of Mr. Rich’s visa and Ms. Tseliupa’s passport.

Mr. Rich specializes in travel to remote and sometimes dangerous parts of the world and has 3.5 million followers. The most recent video on Rich’s channel was filmed in Syria and posted on April 24. In an Instagram post last week, Rich said “Syrian suntan and back in a country with Soviet mosaics” but he didn’t specify where he was.

Baikonur, which was once a closed Soviet city, is now open to tourists who apply for permission from Roscosmos.

Terry A. Hurlbut

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Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.