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A Moscow court ordered the arrest of Denis Yeskov and Anatoly Nagornov, administrators of the railway photography site RailGallery. Investigators accuse them of unlawfully accessing and publishing information from a critical infrastructure facility; the charge carries a sentence of five to 10 years. The site is inaccessible, and its editorial board says its future is uncertain.
A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of Denis Yeskov and Anatoly Nagornov, administrators of RailGallery, a Russian website for railway photographs and information, on charges tied to allegedly accessing and publishing protected data from a critical infrastructure facility. The offense carries a potential prison sentence of five to 10 years; investigators’ allegations have not been independently established in the available reporting.
The press service of Moscow’s courts reported the case on October 16. Court records published online show that the Dorogomilovsky District Court had ordered the administrators’ arrest on October 14. They are charged under a criminal statute covering unlawful interference with critical information infrastructure when it causes serious consequences.
According to investigators, the men gained unlawful access to an organization’s trade secret, copied information stored at what authorities describe as a Russian critical infrastructure facility, and posted that information on RailGallery. The source report does not identify the organization or specify what information was copied, and the available material does not detail the alleged serious consequences.
The railway-focused Telegram channel “1520. All About Railways” reported on the evening of October 15 that RailGallery had stopped loading. The site remains inaccessible, according to the report. In a statement shared by Telegram channels, the site’s editorial board confirmed the detentions and said it did not know whether the website could continue operating or who might manage it.
A Railway Archive Under Legal Scrutiny
The arrests put the future of a specialist online archive in doubt while raising questions about how information on railway equipment may be treated under Russia’s critical-infrastructure laws. RailGallery was used by enthusiasts to share photographs, but the site also developed into a database on railway equipment and operations, according to the railway channel cited by Meduza.
The criminal charge is serious: if convicted under the cited statute, the administrators could receive five to 10 years in prison. That is the maximum legal exposure described in the report, not an outcome already decided by the court. The available account does not establish that the information posted caused harm, or that the men have been convicted.
The case also affects users who relied on the site to preserve and discuss railway photographs. The editorial board said the situation had come as a surprise and that there was not enough information to make predictions about the site’s future.
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From TrainPix to RailGallery
RailGallery launched in 2022, after TrainPix, a popular railway photography site, shut down. Mediazona reported that TrainPix was created by Ukrainians who announced its closure after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine; its administrators deleted the archive and urged support for the Ukrainian army.
Yeskov said in August 2022 that RailGallery users had restored about 150,000 photographs, roughly half of TrainPix’s archive. By the end of that year, more than 3,200 people had registered and uploaded 194,000 photographs, including 161,500 restored images, according to figures in Meduza’s report.
RailGallery images have also appeared in reporting beyond the enthusiast community. In 2023, the Dossier Center published an investigation into an armored train that Vladimir Putin presumably uses. It included a photograph of a Grand Service Express train from RailGallery and reported special communications antennas and three locomotives. Whether Putin rides the train shown remains unknown; that investigation does not establish a connection to the present criminal case.
““At the moment, the situation remains uncertain. It’s too early to say what will happen to the site going forward, whether its usual operation can be maintained, or who will take over its management.””
— RailGallery editorial board, in a statement shared by Telegram channels
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Key Allegations Still Unspecified
The reporting available so far does not name the organization whose trade secret was allegedly accessed, identify the copied information, or explain what serious consequences investigators say followed. It also does not provide the defendants’ responses or say whether they have entered pleas. The accusation remains an allegation; the arrest order is not a conviction.
It is also unclear whether the site’s inaccessibility is directly connected to the arrests, whether authorities have seized its data, and whether other people associated with RailGallery are under investigation. The editorial board says it lacks enough information to determine whether normal operations can resume or who could take over management.
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Court Proceedings and Site Status
The next developments will include further court proceedings in the criminal case and any public information about the investigators’ evidence and the defendants’ positions. The source report does not give a date for a next hearing or specify what procedural steps are scheduled.
RailGallery’s users and contributors are also waiting to learn whether the site will return, remain offline, or be managed by someone else. Its editorial board said it could not yet predict the outcome. Until more information is made public, both the legal case and the archive’s future remain unresolved.
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Key Questions
Who was arrested in the RailGallery case?
Denis Yeskov and Anatoly Nagornov, administrators of the railway photo site RailGallery, were ordered arrested by Moscow’s Dorogomilovsky District Court.
What are the men accused of doing?
Investigators allege they unlawfully accessed an organization’s trade secret, copied information from a Russian critical infrastructure facility, and published it on RailGallery. The available report does not identify the organization or the information.
What prison sentence could the charge carry?
The statute cited in the report carries a sentence of five to 10 years in prison. That is the potential penalty; the arrests do not mean the men have been convicted.
Is RailGallery still available?
No. The site stopped loading by the evening of October 15 and remained inaccessible in the report. Its editorial board said it did not know whether normal operations could continue.
What happens next in the case?
Further court proceedings are expected, but the report does not provide a hearing date or a schedule. The next public updates may clarify the evidence, the defendants’ responses, and the site’s future.
Source: rss
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