A criminal case has been opened against a resident of Nefteyugansk, a city in western Siberia, for comparing the singer Shaman to Nazis.

On 26 June, the Nefteyugansk City Court in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug received a criminal case against Alexei Smirnov under the article for repeated “discrediting” of the army (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). The case file was noted by the SOVA research centre.

The case includes three episodes, but what exactly Smirnov is being accused of is unknown.

In February 2024, the same court fined the man 30,000 roubles (about US$340) under the administrative article on “discrediting” the army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). The reason was a comment on VKontakte under a post about a track by the singer Shaman, “My Battle.” Smirnov compared the artist’s work to the militaristic propaganda of the Nazis.