Yuri Dushechkin: Man dies after drinking 1.5 liters of cheap vodka in exchange for money during livestream stunt
Russian man Yuri Dushechkin, known as "Grandfather", died while being live-streamed on YouTube in front of 150 viewers after drinking what is believed to be low-quality vodka, according to local reports. The death once again prompted officials to call for a ban on the streaming of violence online.
According to Smolensk-based online outlet Readovka, as reported by RT, Dushechkin was a regular presence on 'First Step to YouTube', a channel that became well-known locally for streaming live footage that takes advantage of the vulnerable.
Categorized as "trash streams", the channel features live streaming of people being asked to do dares and get paid in return. These dares are often humiliating and target those desperate for money. The channel was first reported on in 2017 when the owner would pay homeless people to drink alcohol or hot sauce on camera.
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Readovka quoted the channel's viewers and suggested that Dushechkin died after drinking around one and a half liters of low-quality vodka which was provided to him by Zheka, the stream's host. After Dushechkin's death, the video was promptly deleted.
RT also reported that local portal SmolNarod reported that regional police are investigating the incident.
This is not the first time that "trash streams" have resulted in tragedy. Last year, on October 23, blogger Andrey Burim was arrested after beating a 21-year-old model live on air. He was then banned from YouTube. Just over a month later, Stas Reshetnikov (Reeflay Panini) made headlines when he streamed himself kicking his girlfriend, Valentina Grigoryeva, out to the street in sub-zero temperatures for a $1,000. He did so in a bid to "punish her" because her intestinal infection would make her "stink."
When Reshetnikov went to let his girlfriend back inside after some time, he discovered that she had died. He continued to live stream for over an hour after the incident, with her corpse on full display. When medical services arrived, the doctor immediately declared that she was dead. The live streaming only stopped when a man, presumably a police officer, ordered Reshetnikov to turn it off.
Grigoryeva was 28 years old, and according to refuted reports, she was pregnant. According to a medical examination, Grigoryeva suffered a closed craniocerebral trauma, multiple bruises, and a subdural hematoma.
In December 2020, Russian Senator Alexey Pushkov proposed a ban on broadcasts that live stream violence. Pushkov said to the Senate, "A criminal case has just been opened because a girl died as a result of a stream. We must introduce such amendments to the legislation that will prohibit trash streams.”
After Dushechkin's death, Pushkpv once again reiterated his support for a ban, tweeting, "A homeless man died in Smolensk during a thrash-stream session: he was bullied, he was beaten, and the Internet scum paid money to the blogger for these spectacles ... Is it necessary to explain to someone else the need to legally ban thrash-streams and their eradication as a phenomenon? It is obvious to us."
Бездомный умер в Смоленске во время сеанса трэш-стрима: над ним издевались, его избивали, а интернет-мразь за эти зрелища платила деньги блогеру...Надо ещё кому-то объяснять необходимость законодательного запрета трэш-стримов и их искоренения как явления? Для нас она очевидна.
— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) January 28, 2021
According to International Business Times, Zheka often made homeless people do stunts as requested by viewers. It is unclear whether any legal action will be taken against him.
