A woman from Arkhangelsk, a city in northern Russia, has been convicted over a cross-shaped lamp at a private party.

In Arkhangelsk, a city in northern Russia, a magistrate has sentenced a 30-year-old party organiser to 200 hours of compulsory community service for “offending the feelings of believers” (part 1, article 148 of the Criminal Code) due to the presence of a Christian cross as part of the event’s decor, reports the press office of Lomonosovsky District Court.

According to the case file on the court precinct’s website, the person in question is Yekaterina Filippova.

The court’s press service claims that the woman organised a party in one of Arkhangelsk’s nightclubs where “there was a display of commitment to non-traditional sexual relations.”

“Being aware that displaying religious symbols at such events is unacceptable, deliberately and motivated by negative feelings towards Orthodox believers and clergy, and in open disrespect for society, [the defendant] publicly placed an Orthodox cross, as a symbol of faith, on the wall of the club premises, thus offending the religious feelings of Orthodox Christians present at the event,” the court’s press office stated.

In October 2024, security forces and activists from the nationalist movement “Russian Community” raided a closed costume party organised by Filippova for her birthday. Members of the “Russian Community” claimed the raid was part of their campaign against “LGBT propaganda.” Guests at the event were forced to the floor. The raiders insulted them, using homophobic language among other insults, and called them “quadrobers.” The “Russian Community” activists filmed the partygoers on their phones, and these videos later appeared openly online.

In December 2024, security forces searched Filippova’s home as part of the criminal case for “offending the feelings of believers.” The reason for the prosecution was a cross-shaped lamp that had been present at the party.

As The Barents Observer writes, the prosecution highlighted the “offensive” combination of a religious symbol and men at the party wearing “women’s” outfits. “These details formed the basis for the argument about ‘deliberate mockery of religious symbols,’” the outlet adds.

According to The Barents Observer, the case materials included testimony from anonymous witnesses. One of them, “Pavel Pavlov,” who supposedly attended the private party, claimed Filippova told a guest that belief in God was a relic of the past. The publication notes that, in fact, such a conversation never took place. The main prosecution witness was an activist from the “Russian Community.”

• Yekaterina Filippova is the founder of the RADAR Project, which organised parties in Arkhangelsk. In January 2024, she was fined 300,000 rubles (approximately US$3,400) under an “LGBT propaganda” protocol involving minors (part 4, article 6.21 of the Administrative Code), due to advertising BDSM-themed parties. In this video, two women simulated kissing. At present, the RADAR Project’s VKontakte page is inactive, and its Instagram is accessible to subscribers only.