JesusAVGN: Foreign Agent

He collected multi-million donations for charity, nearly 2 million Twitch followers watched him, and he was one of the first Russian-speaking streamers to move to the USA. Then Alexey Gubanov, known as JesusAVGN (and simply Jesus), received the status of a foreign agent, lost income, and works part-time as a snow shoveler in New York. Let's figure out why the top streamer was added to the registry and how he lives now.

Who is JesusAVGN

Alexey Alexandrovich Gubanov was born on March 30, 1992, in Novokuznetsk. After school, he graduated from a professional college with specialties as a fitter for instrumentation and automation and a computer operator — a background far from blogging.

Alexey registered his YouTube channel on May 3, 2012, and held his first Twitch stream on June 2, 2013. Initially, he made let's plays primarily for horror games, not revealing his identity and sometimes distorting his voice.

A turning point came on December 31, 2016 — Gubanov showed his face live for the first time. This decision sharply increased his popularity and opened up new content formats.

By 2024, his metrics were impressive:

Twitch — 1.8 million followers (5th largest Russian-language channel on the platform)
YouTube — 1.38 million subscribers
Stream genres — communication, games, politics, travel

Jesus is also known for charity. On June 7, 2020, he held a joint stream, raising over 1 million rubles in donations for doctors — the funds went to the "Pravmir" foundation.

Moving to the USA: Why the streamer left Russia

Back in 2020, Gubanov stated that he wanted to move to America, citing the political situation in Russia as one of the reasons.

On October 29, 2021, he moved to New York and has not been home since. Later, he directly stated that his departure from Russia was due to his position regarding the policies of President Vladimir Putin.

In 2022, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Jesus shared information that Twitch stopped paying streamers with Russian citizenship. He actively spoke out against the war and criticized the actions of the Russian authorities — this later became the formal basis for his inclusion in the foreign agents registry.

Entering the registry: How it happened

On April 4, 2025, the Russian Ministry of Justice added Alexey Gubanov to the registry of foreign agents.

Official reasons from the Ministry of Justice:

First reason — dissemination of inaccurate information about decisions made by Russian public authorities and policies pursued by them.
Second reason — creation of a negative image of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Third reason — speaking out against the special military operation in Ukraine.
Fourth reason — participation in the dissemination of materials of other foreign agents.

Gubanov himself called this measure by the Ministry of Justice "expected" — he, apparently, foresaw such developments.

Fighting to remove the status: Courts and rejections

Jesus did not accept the status silently. He filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice demanding that the decision be declared illegal and that he be excluded from the registry.

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court considered his administrative lawsuit and denied the claim.

Gubanov filed an appeal — this time to the Moscow City Court. In January 2026, it became known that the higher instance also upheld the district court's decision. The Moscow City Court considered the appeal and denied its satisfaction.

Thus, as of today, the status of a foreign agent is officially assigned to JesusAVGN, and there are no hopes for its quick removal.

Life after being entered into the registry: Income decline and job as a cleaner

The status of a foreign agent entails not only political but also very concrete financial consequences.

In March 2026, Gubanov admitted in a YouTube video that he lacked the funds to live in the USA. The main reason was the loss of all advertisers. Brands that previously eagerly worked with the top streamer terminated contracts after he was entered into the registry.

"It's practically impossible to live on donations alone in a city like New York," the blogger lamented.

According to him, his income had significantly dropped, and he began to seriously consider employment. And judging by subsequent events — his thoughts moved into practical action.

In February 2026, Jesus got a part-time job at the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). The city authorities launched a temporary hiring program due to a severe snowstorm, and the mayor of New York urged residents to help utility workers. The salary for such workers started at $30 (about 2200 rubles) per hour.

"I got a job at DSNY, officially, and it's not a joke," Gubanov stated in his Telegram channel, publishing a video in the sanitation workers' uniform. "The mayor of New York asked very much, I decided, why not."

Jesus himself jokingly linked this part-time job precisely to his foreign agent status — implying that he had to become a cleaner precisely because he was added to the Ministry of Justice registry.

What is known about other claims against the streamer

The status of a foreign agent is not Gubanov's only problem. He also attracted the attention of Russian authorities with his active stance on issues related to Ukraine.

As mentioned earlier, in spring 2022, Jesus informed his subscribers that Twitch had stopped paying Russian streamers. He also repeatedly spoke out in support of Ukraine and called for a halt to hostilities.

Gubanov himself does not hide his anti-war stance and continues to broadcast it, despite his foreign agent status and the associated restrictions.