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Aleksei Samsonov, the organiser of the “Nekrocomicon” festival, has been detained in St Petersburg, his colleagues told OVD-Info.

The festival, which had been approved by the city authorities, was due to start tomorrow at the Design District DAA venue.

“This morning, officers from the traffic police and Interior Ministry cordoned off the area in and around the venue, without providing the organisers with any clear reasons or official documents. As a result, the stage set-up, installation of equipment, and space preparations were completely halted,” the “Nekrocomicon” organisers told OVD-Info.

The main organiser of the festival, Aleksei Samsonov, was taken to the police station, where his residence permit is being checked: he is a citizen of Kazakhstan.

The “Nekrocomicon” festival planned to include a cosplay competition, a science fiction book exhibition, a rock concert, quests, and flash mobs. Samsonov had coordinated the event as a handicrafts fair with the Committee for Industrial Policy. However, on 30 October he was summoned for a discussion at the district administration.

“There was no basis for this in any letter of the law. There were only suspicions voiced that the event might allow manifestations of satanism,” Samsonov told Rotonda. He was detained the next day.

“Halloween, whose motifs are used in the festival, is recognised and celebrated by representatives of the majority of major Western Christian denominations (Catholicism and Protestantism). Culturally, the holiday draws from Celtic-Scandinavian folklore and mythology, which are admired by many people in our country; this is not a socially dangerous phenomenon,” reads a statement that Samsonov submitted to the prosecutor’s office, as cited by the publication.

Orthodox activists from the “Sorok Sorokov” movement called on their supporters to report “Nekrocomicon” to the security services for “involving minors in a banned international satanist movement.”

1 November The “Nekrocomicon” festival in St Petersburg was ended early at the request of the authorities. Its organiser is to be expelled from the country.

The city’s Committee for Industrial Policy withdrew the permission to hold the event, reports Fontanka.

Previously, police officers arrived at the festival and spoke with visitors.

“Nekrocomicon” was intended to run for two days, but ultimately lasted only a few hours.

Police also found organiser Aleksei Samsonov guilty today of violating the rules for foreign nationals’ stay in Russia (Article 18.8, Part 3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). He was fined five thousand roubles (approximately US$55) and ordered to be expelled from the country. Samsonov is a citizen of Kazakhstan but had lived in St Petersburg for the past 20 years.

5 February 2026 The Krasnogvardeysky District Court in St Petersburg overturned the police decision to expel “Nekrocomicon” organiser Aleksei Samsonov from Russia. Paper reports this, citing Samsonov as the source.

The hearing actually took place on 22 January. On the same day, the man, who had been held in a temporary detention centre for foreign nationals, was released.

“I provided the same statements as in the first court—that I am ethnically Russian, that I am a native speaker of Russian, that I have extremely useful functions in St Petersburg, I have carried out many social projects, I am employed here, studied here as a postgraduate, and have lived here for 17 years. There was no reason to impose the harshest sanction—deportation with a five-year ban on re-entry. I don’t know why everything was dragged out,” Samsonov said.

Meanwhile, the criminal case on the use of forged documents (Article 327, Part 3 of the Criminal Code), which was opened against him, is still under investigation. The security forces claimed that Samsonov showed them a migration card with a forged stamp.