News

The TV channel “TV3” has cut scenes featuring Anatoly Bely, who has been designated a “foreign agent,” from the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” This was reported by the publication Verstka.

This concerns the adaptation of the novella “The Dawns Here Are Quiet…,” which was released in Russian cinemas in 2015. In it, actor Anatoly Bely plays a minor role as Major “Comrade 'Third'.”

In the film, the actor appears for one minute: after a drunken brawl between soldiers, their sergeant Fedot Vaskov is reprimanded by “Comrade 'Third'.” As a result, the major gives Vaskov the task of bringing in new recruits who do not drink.

Additionally, Bely’s character appears at the end of the film, running to the wounded Vaskov with reinforcements. In the TV3 version, Bely is only visible in moments where he cannot be recognised due to blurred footage. Anatoly Bely’s name has also been removed from the film’s credits.

The Ministry of Justice added Anatoly Bely to the register of “foreign agents” in December 2023. The ministry stated that Bely distributed materials from other “foreign agents,” criticised the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and took part in events raising funds for the Ukrainian army.

The Frunzensky District Court of St Petersburg has fined local resident Sergei Gromov 30,000 roubles (approximately US$330) over anti-war posts and a petition. The press service of the St Petersburg courts reported this.

According to police and the court, on 24 February 2022, Gromov posted an image, a caption, and a petition on his Facebook page containing critical remarks about the actions of the Russian army.

“The text of the petition includes statements expressing an encouragement to take actions aimed at obstructing the functioning of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as statements encouraging mass action of some kind,” the press service said.

Additionally, several anti-war publications were found on Gromov’s VKontakte page, which police attached to this administrative case. Gromov himself refused to plead guilty in court.

“Through his actions, he deliberately drew attention to negative aspects of the ‘Special Military Operation,’ discredited the nature, aims, and objectives regarding the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which are employed in accordance with universally recognised principles and norms of international law; however, these actions do not constitute a criminal offence,” the statement reads.

In August 2022, a person named Sergei Gromov was detained after unfolding an anti-war placard in central St Petersburg. A protocol was later drawn up against him for ‘discrediting’ the Russian army.

A protocol for “discrediting the Russian army” (Art. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) has been drawn up against Gleb Kalinychev, an activist from Nizhny Novgorod who was convicted in a case concerning a donation to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). This was reported by the Telegram channel “NPKK_info.”

Kalinychev is required to report regularly to the police because he was given a suspended sentence. He turned up at the police station, where officers from the Centre for Countering Extremism were waiting for him. They confiscated his phone and began drafting a protocol.

The police accused the activist over a post dated 24 February 2022, the contents of which are unknown at present. Kalinychev was released after this.

In August 2023, a court in Nizhny Novgorod, a major city on the Volga River east of Moscow, sentenced Gleb Kalinychev to a four-year suspended sentence in a case relating to the financing of extremism (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, he transferred 1,899 rubles (approximately US$20) to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Kalinychev had been held in a pre-trial detention centre from September 2023 until the verdict was delivered.

The Ural artist Alisa Gorshenina has been fined 100,000 roubles (approximately US$1,100) under the “LGBT propaganda” offence (part 3, article 6.21 of the Administrative Code), she shared on Instagram.

On 24 April, Gorshenina went to the police station for an administrative offence report to be filed, but in the end three reports were drawn up: for “discrediting the army” (part 1, article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code), “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations” (part 3, article 6.21 of the Administrative Code) and displaying banned symbols (part 1, article 20.3 of the Administrative Code).

That night, the artist was held in a basement cell in the police station in Nizhny Tagil, a city in the Urals. In the morning, she was taken to court in Yekaterinburg, also in the Urals, where she was jailed for 10 days on the banned symbols report.

“From 25 April to 4 May, I was held in the local special detention facility. The day I spent in the basement and the police station in Nizhny Tagil was counted towards my sentence,” Gorshenina said. “I’m not sure I want to say anything about the detention facility right now, so I’ll keep it brief with a quote from my personal diary, which I kept throughout these days: ‘This is not an unbearable place, but being here is unbearable.’”

On 5 May, Gorshenina was fined for the two remaining reports, totalling 145,000 roubles (approximately US$1,600).

In the closed city of Novouralsk, Sverdlovsk Region, elderly environmental activist Viktor Kazakov has been issued three charges of “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The publication “Vecherniye Vedomosti” brought this to attention.

In addition, he has received three more charges of “inciting hatred” (Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

According to a source for “Vecherniye Vedomosti,” the grounds for the charges were Facebook posts, but the content of these posts is unknown. The publication notes that Kazakov’s posts were only visible to friends. It remains unclear how law enforcement became aware of their content. The page has now been deleted.

All six charges were submitted to the Novouralsk City Court on 28 April. Judge Aleksandr Perevoshchikov heard the case that same day.

The judge consolidated the cases into a single proceeding and sentenced Kazakov to 15 days’ arrest, according to “Vecherniye Vedomosti.”

A source at the publication reported that the charges were drawn up by prosecutor Dmitry Mitkin, who had previously issued a warning to “Vecherniye Vedomosti” for reporting on army “discrediting” cases. At the time the protocols were being drawn up, Kazakov was with the prosecutor without legal representation.

In 2022, Kazakov had seven protocols drawn up against him for “discrediting the army,” including for anti-war protests. He was fined for six of these, while another case—for a protest against the war—was dropped on appeal, since Kazakov had already been punished for it under another article.

Kazakov had attracted the attention of local law enforcement even before the war. In 2018, the activist was summoned to an FSB interview over his blog “Novouralsk Free Word.” Officers questioned him about posts in support of prisoners and criticism of the authorities. He also participated in protests against the importation of uranium waste from Europe to Novouralsk. In 2019, because of this, he was charged with violating protest regulations, but the case was later dropped. Around the same time, he was detained by FSB officers for filming a train carrying nuclear waste. The officers demanded he delete the video, but eventually released the activist without success.

A Moscow resident has been fined under the “LGBT propaganda” law (part 3, article 6.21 of the Administrative Code) because of a pornographic meme entitled “Initiation into Nazis (bones).” This decision was highlighted by the publication Parni+.

According to the court’s decision, the Moscow resident’s page contained a two-minute video in which a man shaves his head, laces up white shoelaces on high boots, and then performs oral sex with two skinheads. Several times during the video, images of a swastika are shown. At the end of the video, the text “Join our ranks!!!” appears.

The authorities also found “LGBT propaganda” in two photographs on the Moscow resident’s page. One of these has now been deleted; in the other, two men with a rainbow umbrella are depicted as if about to kiss.

At the hearing, the young man said he had posted the photos and video “for humorous purposes.” The Babushkinsky District Court fined him 100,000 rubles (approximately US$1,070).

Because of the same video, the Moscow resident was also fined 2,000 rubles (approximately US$21) for displaying Nazi symbols (part 1, article 20.3 of the Administrative Code).

Both decisions were issued by the court on 29 April.

Gorshenina herself and the person who drew up the protocol did not attend the hearing. On 25 April, the artist was arrested for 10 days under the article on ‘display of extremist organisation symbols’ (Part 1, Article 20.3…) for using a rainbow emoji on social media. She was released from the detention centre the previous morning, and was not detained again.

Additionally, further protocols were drawn up against Gorshenina under the articles on ‘discrediting the Russian army’ (20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) and ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’ (Part 3, Article 6.21 of the Administrative Code).

In 2022, Alisa Gorshenina was fined 35,000 roubles (about US$400) under the article on ‘discrediting the army’ because of an anti-war protest. She stood near the Mir children’s centre in Nizhny Tagil, a large city in the Urals, dressed in black with a white rose in her hands. Ribbons emerged from the flower with the words: ‘Epir vӑrҫa hirӗҫ! ’ and ‘Kirәкmi bezgә sugыsh! ’—which means ‘We are against the war! ’ in Chuvash and Tatar.

In 2024, after complaints from pro-government activists, Gorshenina’s workshop at the Yeltsin Centre was cancelled. In summer 2024, Gorshenina gave a lengthy interview to OVD-Info about the pressure she is facing.

Sofia Ivanova, coordinator of the “Golos” movement in Ryazan, had a single kopeck confiscated; the authorities considered the money to be the activist’s income and transferred it to her “special account” as a so-called “foreign agent.” Ivanova herself told Novaya Gazeta about this.

The single kopeck was a bank interest payment on 1,000 rubles (about US$11) that had been sitting for several years in Ivanova’s savings account at Sberbank.

The activist points out that she did not set up the “special account” herself. In addition to the kopeck, just over 10 rubles (about US$0.11) from another account was transferred there.

The Ministry of Justice added Sofia Ivanova to the “foreign agent” register on 29 September 2021. The grounds for Ivanova’s inclusion in the list were 500 rubles (about US$5.50) received from a citizen of Uzbekistan and 15 reposts on social media of materials from Meduza, Radio Free Europe, and other media outlets.

In December 2024, Putin signed a law stating that “foreign agents’” income from the sale or rental of real estate or vehicles, as well as from dividends and interest on deposits, must be paid into special rouble accounts. The same applies to fees “from the use of the results of intellectual activity and brands.” They will only be able to use these funds after they are removed from the “foreign agent” register.

Security forces disrupted concerts in bars in Yekaterinburg and St Petersburg. This was reported by the Telegram channels “78 | NEWS” and “SVET Yekaterinburg.”

In Syndrom bar in Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, several hardcore bands were performing. During the concert by the band “Poloz,” people in masks went on stage and demanded the organisers turn on the lights.

“People were asked to stand against the walls and told there would be an ID check. They checked everyone’s documents, tattoos, elbows, asked about their attitude towards left-wing radical movements, their views on the ‘special military operation,’ and went through messengers on their phones. After checking, people were taken outside and told to move away. Personally I didn’t stay and left, so I don’t know whether the concert went ahead or not,” one of the concert-goers told SVET Yekaterinburg.

It is not known whether anyone was detained at the concert. Eyewitnesses said a few people were put into police vehicles.

In addition, police in St Petersburg came to a closed rave at the underground club Kontrkult. Security forces checked attendees’ documents and searched for banned substances.

According to “78 | NEWS,” the party organisers were detained. Presumably, this was due to holding an unauthorised event.

The Nevyansk City Court in Sverdlovsk Region fined local resident Nikolay Dolgushin 30,000 rubles (approximately US$330) under the law on “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), reports It’s my city.

The reason for the case was a post on Odnoklassniki which, according to the court, contained statements aimed at undermining the reputation of the Russian Armed Forces. Dolgushin had previously been fined under the same article; the court treated this as an aggravating circumstance. He denied his guilt, stating that his page may have been hacked—he uses Odnoklassniki only to look for friends and to find folk medicine recipes.

Security forces conducted a raid at a nightclub in Moscow where, in their view, “suspects involved in LGBT propaganda could have been gathering.” This was reported by RIA Novosti, and the story was highlighted by ASTRA.

According to videos released from the raid, the security forces forced clubgoers to lie face-down on the floor.

According to information from the VChK-OGPU channel, the raid took place at the Bizzare swinger club. The day before, an event called “Sinful ‘MILFs of Ancient Greece’” was held there.

A protocol for “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3, Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences) has been drawn up against Yekaterinburg-based activist and architect Polina Ivanova over a Facebook post published in February 2022. The news was reported by 66.ru.

She was detained and has since been released. Due to her detention, she had to cancel a lecture on Yekaterinburg’s history that was planned for today at the Samotsvet bar. The announcement of the event was removed from Samotsvet’s public page.

Previously, the bookshop “Piotrovsky” cancelled the launch of Ivanova’s book “Guide to Sverdlovsk and Yekaterinburg” after complaints from pro-government Telegram channels. “UralLive,” a Telegram channel linked to Vladimir Solovyov’s team and the right-wing group “Russian Community,” highlighted the presentation, which was scheduled for 16 April. According to UralLive’s post, Ivanova “sparked a protest against the Z symbol at the Ural State University of Architecture and Art,” “encouraged Yekaterinburg’s cultural institutions to sign a letter against the ‘special operation,’” attended anti-war protests, collaborated with Yevgeny Volkov (the brother of politician Leonid Volkov), and used a Ukrainian flag as her profile picture. After this post, the bookshop cancelled the activist’s event “for reasons beyond its control.”

At a college in the south-west of Moscow, students are being forced to write a dictation with questions about the war in Ukraine under threat of being barred from exams. This was reported by the “Idite lesom!” (“Get Lost!”) project, citing one of the students.

“At my college, they are making us write the ‘Victory Dictation,’ otherwise we won’t be allowed to take the history exam. During registration for the dictation, you have to fill in your address, name, phone number and so on. The history teacher said that without a certificate confirming we had passed the test, we wouldn’t be admitted to the exam,” the project quotes the student as saying. “Several questions in the dictation tested our knowledge of ‘heroes’ of the ‘special military operation’ who died in battle defending the motherland and other things in that vein.”

The “Victory Dictation” is an educational campaign introduced by United Russia in 2019, consisting of a test on the history of the Second World War. In 2025, following an order by Dmitry Medvedev, questions about the “special military operation” were added to the dictation.

In April, OVD-Info launched the “Of Your Own Free Will” project. Through this initiative, we provide advice to people who are being forced at work or in education to support the war, vote, or take part in patriotic campaigns.

The case against Anna Pyanzina from Perm, brought under the article on incitement of hatred (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Code), has been dropped. This was reported by the Telegram channel “Verkhnyaya Kurya Against the Construction of a Migrant Mosque,” and the publication was noted by “7×7—Horizontal Russia.”

In early February, residents of the Verkhnyaya Kurya neighbourhood in Perm, a major city in the Urals, held an event called “Snow Women for the Mosque.” They dressed the figures in headscarves, then redressed them in niqabs. Signs were placed next to the sculptures saying: “Agree to a harem with a fridge,” “I’ll run off with Masturbek,” “I’ll cool the ardour of any migrant.” “We, the women of Verkhnyaya Kurya, do not need migrants with their mosque. But it’s said that someone is still waiting for them,” said Anna Pyanzina, leader of the movement against the mosque, in a video as she glanced towards the snow figures.

On 26 February, an administrative case was initiated against her, based on a linguistic assessment. According to police, Pyanzina had made negative judgements about the social group “men-Muslims-migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus,” and negatively assessed marrying Muslims and adopting Islam. During questioning, she stated that she had not intended to offend or insult anyone, although she remained opposed to the construction of a large mosque, which she said could provoke the creation of a “migrant enclave.”

The case was sent to the Motovilikhinsky District Court of Perm, but the judge returned it to the police for corrections.

A new linguistic assessment found no “statements asserting or justifying the necessity of hostile actions (involving violence, causing harm or damage).” As a result, the proceedings were terminated due to a complete lack of any offence having occurred.

The Leninsky District Court in Yekaterinburg has sentenced Ural-based artist Alisa Gorshenina to 10 days in detention under the article on displaying symbols of an extremist organisation (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by the pro-government Telegram channel “URALLIVE.”

The court’s press service confirmed Gorshenina’s arrest in a conversation with SOTAvision. She was charged over alleged extremist imagery due to her participation in filming a Pussy Riot music video.

The authors of “URALLIVE” also reported that protocols have been drawn up against Gorshenina under articles on “discrediting” the Russian army (20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) and “promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships” (Part 3, Article 6.21 of the Administrative Code).

In 2022, Alisa Gorshenina was fined 35,000 roubles (approx. US$400) under the army “discreditation” article over an anti-war protest. She appeared outside the Mir children’s centre in Nizhny Tagil, a major city in the Urals, wearing black and holding a white rose. Ribbons streamed from the flower bearing the slogans “Эпир вӑрҫа хирӗҫ!” and “Кирәкми безгә сугыш!”—in Chuvash and Tatar these mean: “We are against the war!”

In 2024, following reports by pro-government activists, Gorshenina’s workshop at the Yeltsin Centre was cancelled. In summer 2024, Gorshenina gave a major interview to OVD-Info discussing the pressure she has been facing.

17:25 Alisa Gorshenina’s lawyer confirmed her arrest, and that two further protocols have been drawn up against her under administrative articles.

The administrative arrest was imposed after Gorshenina posted a rainbow flag emoji on her Instagram, which the security forces deemed extremist organisation symbolism.

A magistrate’s court in the Central District of Moscow has fined the editor-in-chief of “Sports” Vladislav Voronin 200,000 roubles (approx. US$2,200) under the law on “LGBT propaganda” among adults (part 3 of article 6.21 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by the Parni+ project.

The reason for the fine was a piece by journalist Ilya Sobol about the football team Stonewall FC, founded in 1991 by gay players. The article was initially published on the “Sports” website, later deleted, but a copy remained in the Yandex.Zen archive.

According to Roskomnadzor, the article “creates a predisposition to approve non-traditional sexual relationships” and “forms a distorted perception of their equivalence to traditional ones.” The defence insisted that the material had been posted on the platform by a user not connected to the editorial team, but a Roskomnadzor representative noted that, as editor-in-chief, Voronin is responsible for the site’s content and, in the agency’s view, did not meet the requirements of the media law.

The court did not take into account the fact that the article had been deleted following the agency’s complaint.

The Chelyabinsk Regional Court has overturned the arrest of photographer Sergey Likhvatskikh over the letter “N.” He will be released after serving seven days in custody. This was reported by “Chelyabinsk Budushchego” (“Chelyabinsk of the Future”).

On 16 April, the Central District Court in Chelyabinsk, a major city in the Urals, sentenced Likhvatskikh to 11 days under the charge of displaying extremist symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). The protocol was drawn up because of a post the photographer made on VKontakte on 2 July 2018 in a group opposing the construction of the Tominsky mining and processing plant. The post featured a photo of a banner with the letter “N”—the symbol of Alexey Navalny’s presidential campaign.

On 19 March, the Sergiyevsky District Court of Samara Region fined 69-year-old elderly man Aleksandr Konchenkov 10,000 roubles (about US$110) under the article on inciting hatred or enmity (Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The outlet Idel.Realii drew attention to the ruling.

The protocol was drawn up against the man because of a comment he posted on VKontakte under a post in the public group “Aleksandr Khinshtein’s Team” in November 2024.

“After all, what we are doing now in Ukraine—no animal is capable of such a thing. We have degraded to a beast-like state. That is what I replied to someone on OK (the social network Odnoklassniki—editor’s note), where he was celebrating our missile strikes on Ukraine. It is already hard to call us human. Instead of helping Ukraine, we attacked. It’s like in Pushkin: ‘We are faint-hearted, we are treacherous, etc,’” Konchenkov wrote.

A linguistic analysis concluded that the comments “contain a negative assessment of a person or group of people on the grounds of belonging to Russian citizens; the representatives of the said group are compared to animals, are characterised as having degraded to the first stage of livestock development; it is difficult to describe them as humans.”

Konchenkov agreed with the protocol and explained to the court that he was expressing his position, but did not know this could carry liability.

The court set the fine taking into account that the man’s pension amounted to 22,700 roubles (about US$250).

The Proletarsky District Court in Tula has fined regional coordinator of the unregistered party “Rassvet” (Dawn), Yevgeny Malyugin, 40,000 roubles (approximately US$430). He was found guilty of “discrediting the Russian army” (Article 20.3.3, Part 1, of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by the “Tula. ExtremiZm” Telegram channel, which is linked to law enforcement. OVD-Info found the case record on the court website.

The court issued the fine yesterday, 21 April. According to “Tula. ExtremiZm,” Malyugin published an article in one of the blogs he manages about the events of the August 1991 coup. In it, he stated that the 106th Tula Airborne Division is currently “meaninglessly shedding blood on foreign soil,” whereas on 21 August 1991, the paratroopers of that division “refused to suppress the protest” at headquarters and “became national heroes.”

In his blog, Malyugin announced that he would challenge the fine.

“I am absolutely confident that such an article [on discrediting] should not exist at all, that people should not be prosecuted for their beliefs, which, in the opinion of law enforcement officers, supposedly ‘discredit’ something. And what is happening to me is unequivocally political pressure,” said Yevgeny Malyugin.

At the end of February, law enforcement detained the activist. He was issued protocols under articles on “LGBT propaganda” (Article 6.21, Part 3, of the Code of Administrative Offences) and discrediting the army.

The first case against the young man was initiated over a photo in his personal Telegram channel. For this, in early April, the court fined Malyugin 100,000 roubles (approximately US$1,080).

• The “Rassvet” party was founded in 2024 by former presidential candidate Yekaterina Duntsova. She stated that her party stands against the war, for democratic reforms, and for repealing laws that violate Russians’ rights, such as the “foreign agents” law. In May 2024, Duntsova herself was added to the list of “foreign agents.”

A book about the ideas of feminist Simone de Beauvoir has been published in Russia with entire lines blacked out. This was reported by Mediazona.

The book by American author Skye Cleary, “Thirst for Authenticity: How Simone de Beauvoir’s Ideas Help Us Become Ourselves,” released by the publisher Alpina Non-Fiction, is missing some quotations that the publishers have obscured with black bars. A note at the bottom of the pages explains that this is a requirement of the law banning the “promotion of non-traditional relationships and gender transition.”

Skye Cleary is a philosopher who teaches at Columbia University (USA). In her book “Thirst for Authenticity,” she examines how the thoughts and views of Simone de Beauvoir—a renowned French existentialist and a key figure in the feminist movement—can provide support in overcoming life’s difficulties and help people find their way through challenging situations.

Irina Khakamada’s appearance in Kazan, a city on the Volga River, was cancelled following a complaint from local deputies. This was reported by Idel.Realii.

The masterclass, “The Tao of Life: Three Steps to Success,” was scheduled to take place on 20 April at the Korston shopping centre. For unknown reasons, visitors were first evacuated from the shopping centre and, some time later, Khakamada announced that the event would be cancelled. She told those gathered that she had not been given permission to hold the masterclass.

The day before, Eduard Sharafiev, a member of the State Council of Tatarstan who took part in the war against Ukraine, and Alfred Valiev, a deputy of the Kazan City Duma, said they had contacted the prosecutor’s office demanding the cancellation of the business speaker’s appearance.

In December 2022, Khakamada gave an interview to RTVI: during the conversation, she said that none of her acquaintances had been conscripted, as there were “no idiots” among them. Later, this part of the interview was removed.

Previously, Khakamada’s appearances were also cancelled in Irkutsk, a major city in Siberia, and Voronezh, a large city in European Russia.

A protocol for “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3, Part 1 of the Administrative Offences Code) has been submitted to the Vakhitovsky District Court of Kazan, concerning a person who has the same full name as the headteacher of School No. 12, Rozaliya Kozlovskaya. OVD-Info drew attention to this fact.

The case was assigned to Judge Artur Kiselev on 18 April. A hearing date has not yet been set.

The reason for the protocol is not yet known.

Rozaliya Kozlovskaya is the headteacher of the prestigious Kazan School No. 12 “Mishpahteinu,” located in the Vakhitovsky District. Local media call it a “Jewish school.” In the late 1990s, ethno-cultural classes were established there; on the anniversary of this event in 2024, the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, visited the school. “We are ORT Mishpahteinu School: Jewish traditions combined with quality education,” reads the description of the school’s page on VKontakte.

Kozlovskaya has been running the institution since 2019; before that, she was the director of the Kazan Technical College of Surface and Underground Electric Transport.

OVD-Info found no public statements by her about the war, and her VKontakte page is blocked by the social network.

At the request of Roskomnadzor, Apple has removed the DVPN VPN service from the Russian App Store. The developer, Alexander Litreev, wrote about this on his Telegram channel.

“Naturally, this is absolutely illegal and we will put pressure on Apple for such antics, including through the courts,” he said. Litreev also noted that the development team had not received any letters or requests from the Russian authorities, and that there was no court ruling ordering the block.

“Apple blindly complied with this illegal demand, in effect making itself complicit in censorship. This is not only a flagrant violation of the law but also an act of support for a dictatorial regime that is waging the largest war in Europe since the Second World War and committing war crimes,” reads his statement.

The Ministry of Justice claimed that the “Novosibirsk 2020 Coalition” “conducts political activity, disseminates information and materials intended for an unlimited audience, while under foreign influence.” The agency believes Kaverzina should have submitted a statement declaring her “intention to operate as a foreign agent before beginning such activity.”

The former deputy stated:

“If I seriously answer the question: ‘Who leads the Coalition? ,’ the answer is simple, really: divine providence. Somehow, everything always comes together without any special effort, no one does anything in particular, it just happens on its own. Really, without divine providence, there’s no other way to explain how the Coalition survives.”

Olga Nechaeva noted that the court imposed the minimum possible fine on Svetlana Kaverzina.

The Ministry of Justice designated the “Novosibirsk 2020 Coalition” as a “foreign agent” in August 2024. The agency stated that its members include former Novosibirsk deputies Svetlana Kaverzina, Anton Kartavin, Helga Pirogova, and Sergey Boyko. Several months before this, the Ministry of Justice had designated all four as “foreign agents.” Later, Kaverzina and Kartavin were stripped of their mandates due to their “foreign agent” status.

Lolita’s concert in Izhevsk was cancelled following a denunciation by pro-war activists. RusNews reports this.

The performance was due to take place at the Ak­sion House of Culture. Around half the tickets had already been sold. The event announcement has disappeared from all ticketing platforms. The media were told by the House of Culture that the concert is cancelled.

The day before, pro-war activists from the 'Council of Fathers of Udmurtia', the 'Russian Community', and the 'Union of Donbas Volunteers' had demanded that the Izhevsk administration and the Ak­sion House of Culture ban Lolita from performing in the city.

In January, Lolita’s concerts were cancelled in Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk. Representatives of the venues said this was due to force majeure circumstances.

The Central District Court of Chelyabinsk has sentenced photographer Sergei Likhvatsky to 11 days in jail over a photo featuring the letter “N.” This was reported by the Telegram channel “Chelyabinsk of the Future.”

The photographer was found guilty under the article on displaying extremist symbols (Art. 20.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). Likhvatsky was charged over a post he made on VKontakte on 2 July 2018 in a group opposing the construction of the Tominsky Mining and Processing Plant.

The post featured a photo of a banner with the letter “N”—a symbol of Alexei Navalny’s presidential campaign. According to Likhvatsky’s acquaintances, the photo was reported by a certain citizen named Bogdanov.

The Cheboksary District Court in Chuvashia has fined Vitaly Borisov, who is currently serving a sentence in Penal Colony No. 6 of the republic, under the administrative charge of “discrediting the Russian army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code) for performing a song of his own composition in front of other inmates. The court ruling was published on the court’s website, and the outlet Idel.Realii drew attention to it.

The man was fined 30,000 rubles (approx. US$330). The full lyrics of the song were removed from the court decision; only a few quotations are cited.

According to the ruling, Borisov performed his original song for inmates in the colony’s assembly hall on 5 January. The acting head of the colony instructed the head of the Criminal Law Department at the Law Faculty of Cheboksary Cooperative Institute (the individual’s name is redacted in the document) to review the lyrics.

According to the expert opinion, the lines: “…heroism among people in Russia looks like this. One hundred and fifty million against forty, with a nuclear club behind us…”; “… I found it dishonourable to strike from behind, and to launch rockets from afar, shining brightly…”; “… Two Vladimirs are fighting, and the people are dying, but one fights for truth, while the other only lies…” were deemed to discredit the army, contain false information, “influence the subconscious of inmates negatively, and create a false impression of the special military operation.”

Three inmates in the colony stated that from the song lyrics it “became clear to us that he demeans our country, believes that the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine, considers us to be aggressors and thus discredits our Army and the President of the Russian Federation,” the decision says.

Borisov did not admit guilt, stating that in the song he expressed his “personal vision and opinion about the events taking place in the country.”

A court in Tyumen, a major city in western Siberia, has sentenced Nikita Gribkov, an associate of politician Yekaterina Duntsova, to 10 days’ detention over a post featuring the white-blue-white flag. This was reported by URA.ru.

The young man was found guilty under the article on public display of prohibited symbols (Art. 20.3 of the Administrative Code). A symbol of the Freedom of Russia Legion was found in his social media. Journalists did not specify exactly which symbol was in question, but it is most likely the white-blue-white flag.

Gribkov was detained on 15 April. On the same day, according to the party branch secretary Veronika Bezmenova, his home was searched. It is unknown whether the investigative actions are related to any criminal case.

In Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, the Piotrovsky bookshop cancelled the presentation of a book by architect and anti-war activist Polina Ivanova after complaints from pro-government Telegram channels. The local outlet It’s my city drew attention to the incident.

The presentation of the book, “A Guide to Sverdlovsk and Yekaterinburg,” was scheduled for 16 April. The event announcement was highlighted by the UralLive Telegram channel, which is affiliated with Vladimir Solovyov’s team, as well as by the right-wing “Russian Community” movement.

The publication alleged that Ivanova “promoted protests against the Z symbol at the Ural State University of Architecture and Arts,” “encouraged cultural institutions in Yekaterinburg to write a letter against the ‘special military operation’ (SVO),” took part in anti-war protests, collaborated with Yevgeny Volkov (the brother of politician Leonid Volkov), and used the Ukrainian flag as her profile picture.

Following these publications, the bookshop cancelled Ivanova’s appearance, citing “reasons beyond its control.”

The Kirovsky District Court of Yekaterinburg fined Roman Gilmanov, an employee of the Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Education, 30,000 roubles (approx. US$330) under the article on “discrediting the Russian army” (Art. 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by the outlet 7×7.

Gilmanov was detained on 25 March at the opening of an exhibition outside the Church on the Blood. At the church, a monument called “The Pipe” had been installed, dedicated to the advance of Russian troops into Sudzha (Kursk Region), and representing a copy of the gas pipeline through which Russian soldiers entered the town. The official approached the monument with a placard opposing the installation of this object. He was detained and jailed for 15 days under the article on “disobeying the police” (Art. 19.3 of the Administrative Code). Later, another police report was filed against him.

On 14 April, the Moscow City Court discontinued administrative proceedings for “discrediting the army” (part 1, article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) against comedian Danila Poperechny. This is stated in the case file in the database of the capital’s courts, as noted by Mediazona.

The case was discontinued due to “lack of corpus delicti”—meaning no offence was found.

In November 2024, Poperechny was fined 50,000 roubles (US$550) over an Instagram post from 24 February 2022 that included the phrases “no to war” and “we don’t want war.” “My mother, my younger brother, and my friends live in Ukraine. I finished school there, I lived there for many years, I celebrated my graduation there, and Kyiv and Ukraine are a place that is dear to me. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, we are against the war. I am in shock; I couldn’t even imagine that I’d be recording this video this morning. We are against military actions in any form. […] Please, we don’t want war,” the comedian said in the video.

Poperechny and his defence appealed the verdict. The comedian’s lawyer insisted that the period for prosecution over this post had long since expired. Police only paid attention to the post in July 2024.

In March 2022, Poperechny left Russia. He recorded a video explaining that this decision was due to the war in Ukraine and his fear of being detained for anti-war statements. He had received threats before leaving.

In June 2024, the comedian was placed on the “foreign agents” register because of his public activities and statements against the war.

On 14 April, administrative protocols were filed with Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court against the legal entity Falanster bookshop and its co-founder Boris Kupriyanov. The case cards were flagged by Mediazona.

The shop and Kupriyanov are being charged with participating in the activity of an “undesirable organisation” (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Hearings are scheduled for 26 May. The Tverskoy Inter-District Prosecutor’s Office is acting as one of the parties in the case.

The organisation with which cooperation formed the basis for these protocols is unknown.

In March, staff from the prosecutor’s office came to Falanster for an inspection. As reported by publicist Ivan Davydov, police seized several books against a receipt, including works by philosophers Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin and Susan Sontag.

In February, Falanster cancelled the presentation of Kirill Medvedev’s book “Antifascism for All. Revised and Expanded” due to reports from pro-government activists. Among other things, the book covers the murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist from Novaya Gazeta Anastasia Baburova.

The page of former Severodvinsk city council deputy (Arkhangelsk region) and Shiyes defender Sergey Ilyukhin was blocked on VKontakte at the request of Roskomnadzor. He reported this on his Telegram channel.

The page has been unavailable since 1 April. “They blocked it because of my views, for criticising Putin and his Eat Russia party. Eight thousand subscribers, lots of information and videos—all down the drain,” the man wrote.

There was a raid at Mono, a club in Moscow, overnight. This was reported by the Telegram channel “Ostorozhno, novosti” (“Caution, news”).

Shortly after midnight, law enforcement officers in masks stormed into the venue. Everyone present was forced to the floor, face down.

Some attendees noted that the security staff themselves opened the door for the police, and that entry to the club was free that evening. “They really made a point of saying entry was free tonight. I haven’t seen that since 2022. And there were very few people,” “Ostorozhno, novosti” quoted one of the guests as saying.

This is not the first raid at the club. In 2024, law enforcement officers explained their visit as a fight against “LGBT propaganda.”

The Butyrsky District Court in Moscow has fined rapper Ligalize (Andrey Menshikov) 50,000 roubles (US$550) for failing to remove a link to his joint music video with Mr Freeman, who has been designated a “foreign agent.” This was reported by the press service of the capital’s courts and highlighted by Mediazona.

Ligalize was found guilty under the article for failing to comply with a warning to remedy a violation of the “foreign agents” law (Part 42 Article 19.5 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

In June 2023, animator Pavel Muntyan, known as Mr Freeman, released a music video for Ligalize’s song “Peace! To Your! Home!.” The video contains real footage of Russian soldiers and destruction in Ukraine. In Russia, access to the video has been blocked.

Ligalize posted a link to the video on his Telegram channel. In autumn 2024, the rapper was issued a warning demanding that he delete the post because it did not mention Pavel Muntyan’s “foreign agent” status. When he failed to remove the link, an administrative case was opened against him.

Pavel Muntyan, who is currently in exile, was designated a “foreign agent” in April 2023. He was arrested in absentia on charges of spreading military “fake news.” Ligalize himself was declared a “foreign agent” at the end of 2024.

The Ministry of Culture has refused to issue a distribution certificate for the Norwegian animated film “Spermageddon” (original title: Spermageddon). This was reported by Interfax and noted by Mediazona.

The animated film tells the story of the lives of two sperm cells inside the scrotum of a “Star Wars” fan. According to the plot, they embark on a journey towards the egg cell when their owner meets a girl.

“Spermageddon” was set to be released in Russian cinemas on 19 June. Activists from the Sorok Sorokov movement opposed this. They called the film “the belch of a decaying Europe” and filed a complaint with the Investigative Committee.

Law enforcement officers carried out an inspection at the St Petersburg bookshop “Podpisnye Izdaniya,” reports “Mash na Moyke.” According to the channel, several dozen books “with signs of so-called LGBT ideology” were seized from the shop.

The shop confirmed to “Ostorozhno Media” that law enforcement took away books mentioning LGBT.

The Telegram channel “Krovavaya Barynya,” without citing a source, writes that law enforcement had questions about several books published by Ad Marginem. The publishing house’s editor-in-chief, Mikhail Kotomin, said he does not know exactly which books are being referred to:

“Our books often appear in various insane lists that wander, like the Flying Dutchman, between different organisations. Often, some very peculiar titles come up, like Walter Benjamin’s ‘One Way Street’ or Michel Foucault’s ‘Discipline and Punish.’ Which specific books from our range have raised suspicions this time, I do not know.”

“Mash na Moyke” clarified that law enforcement came to inspect the shop following a tip-off.

14:30 After the inspection, prosecutors gave “Podpisnye Izdaniya” a list of 48 books that must be removed from the shop’s shelves, writes “Rotonda.”

According to shop staff, this list included six books about feminism. Among them, for example, is a collection of essays by the American writer Susan Sontag titled “On Women” and the essay collection “7 Texts on Feminism. Disarming Gender,” which includes contributions from, among others, activist Darya Serenko.

Prosecutors are also demanding the removal from shelves of works by journalists Valery Panyushkin and Sergey Pakhomenko, who have been labelled “foreign agents” in Russia, as well as the novel “Doctor Garin” by Vladimir Sorokin.

At least 26 accounts belonging to “foreign agents” have been blocked on the Boosty fundraising platform. This was reported by the outlet Verstka.

Links to these accounts are listed in the Ministry of Justice’s “foreign agent” registry. In total, the ministry’s list provides 53 links to accounts belonging to individuals and organisations labelled as “foreign agents.”

According to Verstka, in the first half of April, accounts belonging to journalists Tatyana Felgengauer and Masha Borzunova, sports commentator Alexander Shmurnov, columnist Yulia Latynina, comedian Mikhail Schatz, the media outlet ASTRA, activist Darya Heikinen, and film critic Anton Dolin were among those blocked.

The politician Elvira Vikhareva was the first to write about the mass blocking of “foreign agent” accounts on Boosty on 8 April.

ASTRA reported on its Telegram channel that Boosty blocked the outlet’s account twice, causing two staff members to lose their pay. The platform explained to the outlet that the blocking was connected to clause 8.6 of Boosty’s agreement.

“Clause 8.6 of the agreement states that the service may delete a user’s account ‘to comply with applicable law or procedure or at the request of a court, law enforcement agency or other administrative or state authority,’ <…> or if you ‘provided inaccurate, fraudulent, outdated, or incomplete information during registration or afterwards,’ or if ‘the company has received complaints about your performance or behaviour,’” Astra quotes the service’s explanatory comment.

The online cinema service Amediateka censored the American TV series “The White Lotus,” cutting references to the war in Ukraine, certain sexual practices and drugs. The Telegram channel “Ostorozhno, novosti” (draws attention to this).

For example, the series had a scene cut in which one of the characters, Valentin, says that he is from Russia, but left the country before the war. The Russian version also omits scenes discussing and using drugs.

Finally, episodes mentioning particular sexual practices were also censored.

Correction: An earlier version mistakenly stated that Valentin left Russia because of the war.

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow has fined political scientist Ilya Matveev 10,000 roubles (approximately US$110) for taking part in an episode of Meduza’s podcast about the killing of Navalny. This was reported by “Mediazona,” citing Matveev himself.

Matveev was found guilty under the article on participation in an “undesirable” organisation (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The reason for the fine was an episode of Meduza’s news podcast “What Happened,” released on 20 February 2024. The episode discussed the killing of Alexei Navalny and “the challenges now facing Navalny’s allies.”

The Prosecutor General’s Office declared SIA Medusa Project (the legal entity behind “Meduza”) an “undesirable” organisation in January 2023. Russian courts hand out fines to those who work with the outlet: for example, photographer Evgeny Feldman, “What Happened” podcast host Vladislav Gorin, and the outlet’s special correspondent Lilia Yapparova.

The TV channel “Dom Kino Premium” has censored the 2010 film by “Kvartet I,” “What Men Talk About.” This was noted by “We Can Explain.”

Scenes featuring musician Andrey Makarevich and the band Bi-2 were cut from the film, and a map mentioning Odesa was also removed.

A scene involving a Georgian, who talks about police raids targeting Georgian nationals, was censored. In 2006, the Russian authorities deported large numbers of Georgians in response to the policies of Mikheil Saakashvili.

In addition, in the sequel “What Else Men Talk About,” the surnames of actors Anatoly Bely and Maksim Vitorgan were blurred out in the credits. The actors had spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and have since moved to Israel.

On 8 April, the Kuibyshev District Court in St Petersburg registered a report on “discrediting” the military (part 1, article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code) against 84-year-old siege survivor Lyudmila Vasilyeva. The news was highlighted by Bumaga.

The report against Vasilyeva was filed over her solo protest on 24 February. The elderly siege survivor stood outside Gostiny Dvor holding a placard reading: “People, let’s stop the war! We are responsible for peace on planet Earth.” She stood there for around an hour. Police officers approached Vasilyeva but did not detain her.

Vasilyeva received a summons instructing her to appear at police station No. 28 on 18 March to have the report officially filed. However, according to the summons, the elderly woman was supposed to report to the police a day before the letter was delivered to her.

84-year-old Lyudmila Vasilyeva is a regular participant in anti-war protests in St Petersburg. She has been detained several times, but administrative cases have never previously been opened against her. In 2024, she stood as a candidate for governor of the city. OVD-Info featured her story in the article “We still all have to live together, good and bad”.

15:50 The Kuibyshev District Court in St Petersburg has returned the report on Lyudmila Vasilyeva to the police due to errors that prevent its consideration. The press service of the city courts reported this.

The donation collection service Boosty is blocking the pages of ‘foreign agents,’ reported politician Elvira Vikhareva.

“It seems that Boosty is having quite the ‘foreign agent’ day: besides me, pages of at least three other comrades in misfortune have also been blocked. I think there are actually more,” she wrote on her Telegram channel.

According to SOTA, in addition to Vikhareva’s page, the platform has also made unavailable the page of journalist Sergey Auslender. The service has not stated the reasons for the blocks.

Previously, at the demand of Roskomnadzor, Boosty blocked the account of the outlet “To Be Continued” and the donation page of the independent publication “Discourse.”

12:15 Boosty is blocking pages because it complies with Russian law on “foreign agents.” Elvira Vikhareva published a response from the service with this information.

The blocks are connected to a new law regulating how “foreign agents” receive and use funds. “Since the service supports payment methods inside Russia, the platform has been forced to introduce certain changes dictated by this law,” the service said in its response.

The service requires “foreign agents” to forgo closed paid posts and to collect donations as charitable gifts. “You must not write ‘Content purchase,’ ‘Access to closed content,’ ‘Access to exclusive issues,’ or ‘Access to restricted materials,’ ‘ the service administration wrote.

In addition, “Angry Chuvashiya” announced that it has deleted its Boosty page. “Unfortunately, the new changes in Russian law have also affected Boosty’s usage rules. Ninety per cent of our options on the platform have been closed. We’ve made the difficult decision to close our page,” the project wrote.

A woman from Megion (a town in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, Western Siberia) has been fined 30,000 roubles (approximately US$330) for calling Russian soldiers “so-called ‘defenders.’” This was reported by RusNews.

The court judged the use of quotation marks around the word “defenders,” as well as the phrase “so-called,” to constitute “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). According to the case materials quoted by RusNews: “The word ‘defenders’ in the comment is enclosed in quotation marks. By using the phrase ‘so-called’ together with this word in quotation marks, the user is indicating that people defending the country do not correspond to the term ‘defender.’”