© (R) Screenshot from stream Mellstroy; (L) Screenshot from stream ReeflayLive broadcasting of misogyny, violence & even death: The growth of 'trash-streaming’, a disturbing Russian internet sub-culture
According to Smolensk-based online outlet Readovka, Yury Dushechkin was a regular feature on 'First Step to YouTube' - a channel that became well known locally for live footage taking advantage of the vulnerable. It falls under the now-infamous category of 'trash streams,' in which people do whatever is asked of them in return for a donation. These dares are often humiliating, and target those desperate for money. The website first reported on the channel in 2017, when the owner would pay homeless people to drink alcohol or hot sauce on camera.
Quoting the channel's viewers, Readovka suggests that Dushechkin died after drinking around one and a half liters of low-quality vodka, provided by the stream's host, who goes by the name Zheka. After the death, the video was promptly deleted.
Comment: There's not much love for the predatory funds' predicament. 'Kamikaze' small investors vow their losses are not as important as punishing Big Money.