
When you’re an influencer, much of what you do is for the sake of clicks and likes. Sometimes though, what an influencer thinks is going to be a hit actually backfires, especially when it comes to using kids in content. And the results can be not only unpopular, but dangerous or even potentially deadly.
One Russian influencer currently has a warrant out for his arrest after he filmed himself tossing his 2-month-old baby into a pile of snow. While he is arguing that the stunt was harmless and his little one is OK, the government says it doesn’t matter.
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Sergei Kosenko, also known as Mr. Thank You, is a Russian influencer with almost 47 million followers on Instagram. In January 2024, Kosenko shared a video on his account of him throwing his son into the air before the little one landed in a snow pile. At the time, the boy was 2 months old.
Naturally, people were shocked by the video, and the backlash was swift. After Kosenko saw the reactions, he deleted the video from his account.
The clip’s virality put the influencer on the radar of Russian police. Now, they have issued a warrant for his arrest.
“The accused threw the child away from himself and upward, allowing him to fall from a height,” the Russian authorities said in a statement shared by Metro. “The criminal intent was not completed due to the child’s fall being softened by the snow cover.”
Currently, the Russian government is demanding that Kosenko be extradited back to the country to face charges. Additionally, it intends to detain him for two months as soon as he steps foot on Russian soil.
Kosenko’s lawyer, Sergei Zhorin, told local media that the influencer is ready and willing to cooperate with law enforcement. He’s even willing to turn over the original video footage. He claims that he didn’t even use his son for the actual filming; it was a dummy and editing tricks.
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Regardless of his claims, the Russian government is ready to bring him up on charges of attempted intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm to a minor and failure to fulfill his duties to raise a minor.
Additionally, they have frozen all of Kosenko’s bank accounts in the country. Currently, the influencer lives abroad, allegedly splitting his time between Los Angeles and Dubai. If convicted, Kosenko faces up to 10 years in prison.