News

Earlier, it was reported that former city council deputy Ilya Kravchenko and Maksim Tulin had also been detained in Volgograd. Kravchenko was held in the station overnight pending trial, while Tulin was released without a report being filed.

Svetlana Kolobova, a resident of Nizhny Novgorod, was detained while laying flowers at the monument by Bugrovskoye Cemetery, the site of a mass grave for victims of political repression. This was reported by RusNews, citing a friend of the detainee.

Local politician Dmitry Rumyantsev said on his Telegram channel that one of those detained is named Andrey Timonin.

The detainees were taken to the “Yapeeva” police station.

In Volzhsky, Alexander Yefimov, a member of the federal bureau of the Yabloko party, has been detained, according to the Volgograd “Memorial” Telegram channel.

A protocol was drawn up against Yefimov for displaying banned symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). The Volzhsky City Court is set to review the protocol tomorrow, 17 February, at 9:00 am. Until then, Yefimov will remain at the police station.

“Novaya Gazeta Europe,” quoting people close to the politician, reports that the reason for the administrative case was a portrait of Alexei Navalny, which Yefimov brought along with flowers to the memorial. According to the publication, law enforcement officers deemed Navalny’s image to be a “display of extremist symbols.”

In Volgograd, a major city on the Volga River, former city council deputy Ilya Kravchenko and Maksim Tulin were detained for laying flowers at a memorial to victims of political repression, reports the Telegram channel ‘Dozor in Volgograd | No to War! .’

According to their information, the detainees were taken to the police station in the Central District.

21:35 Tulin was released from the police station without a report, while Kravchenko is being kept at the station overnight, OVD-Info was told by the detainees’ friend Sergei.

According to Sergei, the former deputy is being charged with disobeying the police (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and violating the rules for holding public events (Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences). His phone was confiscated. The administrative court hearing for Kravchenko is expected to take place tomorrow morning, 17 February.

17 February Ilya Kravchenko was sentenced to 14 days of arrest after laying flowers at the memorial to victims of political repression. This was reported by the ‘Alternative Volgograd’ channel and noted by RusNews.

According to information from the ‘Dozor in Volgograd’ channel, the arrest was imposed under the report of disobeying police. It is not reported whether there was a court hearing under the article concerning violation of the rules for public events.

A resident of Voronezh was detained while staging a solo picket with a placard reading: “Don’t be afraid. This is our country, and we don’t have another one,” by the monument to Osip Mandelstam. This was reported by RusNews.

17:40 Security officers also detained the young woman’s companion as he was laying flowers. The detainees’ names are Yevgeniya and Alexander. This was reported by “Not Politics | Voronezh.”

18:45 The detainees were taken to a police station on Tchaikovsky Street. The police demanded that Alexander unlock his phone and beat him when he refused. The young man eventually agreed, but when the phone locked itself after several incorrect password attempts, the security officers threatened to burn his passport.

“I entered the unlock codes incorrectly several times and my phone was locked for a long time, after which the officers began making inappropriate threats—they threatened to burn my passport, saying: ‘Why do you need it anyway? ’ In the end, the police threatened a bit more and then released us without drawing up any charges,” the detainee told the “Not Politics | Voronezh” channel.

The detainees were eventually released from the police station without any charges being filed.

In Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, a woman was detained for laying flowers at the Decembrists’ monument. She herself told RusNews about this.

“They took me alone, personally, from what I heard while we were driving. About two others were detained before me,” the detainee clarified.

She was brought to police station No. 5. There, the police took her statement and then released her.

In St Petersburg, police detained a man at the memorial to victims of political repression on the Voskresenskaya Embankment as he attempted to attach a piece of paper with a quotation about the triumph of evil to the monument, reports “Bumaga.”

The paper read: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.” This is a quotation by the English publicist and parliamentarian Edmund Burke, which Navalny repeatedly cited in his speeches and interviews. Notably, he recalled it at the end of his interview for the documentary film “Navalny,” released in 2022.

The St Petersburg resident tried to fasten the paper to the memorial, but it fell off. The man himself was then escorted into a police van.

Activist Igor Toporkov from Ulyanovsk, a city on the Volga River in central Russia, reported that he was detained while laying flowers at a monument to the victims of political repression. This was reported by the Telegram channel “Simbirsky Shugozhor.”

19:16 After his detention, Toporkov was charged with displaying prohibited symbols (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), he told the publication 7×7. He did not specify what prompted the charge.

Tomorrow, 17 February, a court hearing will be held on this administrative case. The activist is being kept in the police station overnight.

In Perm, a major city in the Urals, a picketer was detained at the monument to the heroes of the front for holding a sign reading: “If you are feeling especially in pain today—you are not alone! Alexey’s heart beat for us.” This was reported by the “Perm 36.6” channel.

The name of the detained person was initially unknown.

14:15 The detained person’s name is Alexey Ogloblin. He was taken to police station No. 6. This was reported by lawyer Artem Fayzulin, who works with OVD-Info.

15:26 Alexey Ogloblin is being charged with violating the regulations for picketing (Article 20.2 of the Administrative Offences Code). The activist informed OVD-Info about this.

15:59 The activist was released from the station without a report being filed. He informed OVD-Info about this.

According to lawyer Artem Fayzulin, the young man also had his sign confiscated. The activist said that after the decision to release him, the police pushed him out of the station: “They almost forced me out by strength.”

Photo: “Perm 36.6”

• Dozens of Moscow residents came to the grave of Alexei Navalny at Borisovskoye Cemetery. Officers from Centre “E” drove away journalists and people with cameras, citing a ban on taking photos and videos at the cemetery, according to RusNews. One Muscovite brought a sheet of paper with a quote from Navalny: “I am not afraid, and you should not be afraid either.” A Rosgvardia officer attempted to disrupt the picket.

• At the Solovetsky Stone in St Petersburg, barriers have been set up. According to a correspondent from the publication Bumaga, several men in plain clothes are nearby. Flowers left at the memorial by people are being removed by street cleaners. Some residents are bringing flowers to the Trinity Chapel instead.

• At the Stone of Sorrow in Narim Square, Novosibirsk—a major city in Siberia—police are on duty. They are asking those present to show their documents. Two police vans arrived at the memorial, officers are asking people to disperse and threatening fines. Five people have already been detained, and force was used against two of them.

• In Yoshkar-Ola, police are recording the details of those who have laid flowers at the monument to victims of political repression.

• In Sverdlovsk Region, at the “Mask of Sorrow” memorial, people in plain clothes barred a correspondent from It’s My City from entering. They claimed that the memorial was closed due to a bomb threat. Everyone who came to the monument was asked to leave the area.

• In Perm, at the Yegoshikha Cemetery, an officer from Centre “E” was photographing the faces of people who came to honour Navalny’s memory.

• The faces of residents are also being photographed in Nakhodka, a port city in the Russian Far East. Witnesses say two women at the monument to victims of political repression are taking the photos. They are also photographing the cars of those who come to the memorial.

• Meanwhile in Barnaul, a major city in Siberia, local police have cordoned off the “Farewell” monument. People who come with flowers are being questioned and asked to show their documents. A local woman stood in a solo protest with a placard reading: “The Moth is a Murderer.”

In Novosibirsk, a major city in Siberia, several people were detained at a memorial rally, reports 'Novosibirsk 2020 Coalition'.

Force was used against two of the detainees. Eyewitnesses told OVD-Info’s hotline about five people being detained.

13:00 The information about five detainees has been confirmed. Among them are Roman Malozyomov and Mira Iskacheva. Civic activist Ekaterina Tereshchenko reported this to OVD-Info.

13:15 It has become known about a sixth detainee in Novosibirsk. Among the detainees are also Yulia Orlovskaya and Sofya Kolesnikova.

15:20 All five detainees have been released from the police station, they told OVD-Info. No administrative offence reports were drawn up against them. In total, five people were detained in Novosibirsk; information about a sixth detainee was not confirmed.

In Russia, access has been restricted to the websites of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the women’s expert community She is an expert, the “Go to the Woods” project page, and other resources. This was reported by the human rights project Roskomsvoboda.

Here, an “unspecified government body,” which human rights defenders are convinced is the Prosecutor General’s Office, has blocked the ECPMF website. The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom is not included in the register of “undesirable” organisations. Its website contains publications about the wars in Georgia and Ukraine, so human rights defenders have suggested the blanket block (of domains and subdomains) may be related to military censorship.

The reason for restricting access to the She is an expert feminist project resource is unknown. The site features publications about politics, art, business, and other spheres of life. Some of them discuss the war in Ukraine.

The 26th Garrison Military Court was the initiator of the latest blocking of resources of the human rights project “Go to the Woods,” issuing a decision to ban the page containing basic information on conscription for military service.

A segment of the Channel One programme “Let Them Talk” from 2012, dedicated to teenage suicides, was also blocked—following a decision by Rospotrebnadzor, which has the authority to restrict content about suicide. The segment is already unavailable on the Channel One website.

Roskomnadzor also blocked the website of VPN service Bebra VPN, and by order of the Prosecutor General’s Office, access to the website of the Free Russia Institute was restricted. Roskomsvoboda believes the reason for the block is the institute’s connection to the “Free Russia Forum,” which in 2023 was added to the list of “undesirable” organisations.

In Ukhta, a man was detained after laying flowers at a memorial to the victims of repression. This was reported by the Komi Political Prisoner Telegram channel.

The detained man’s name is not yet known. He managed to inform his wife that the police were taking him to the station to establish his identity.

15:46 Police have released the Ukhta resident who was detained for identification after laying flowers at the monument to prisoners of Ukhtpechlag. This was reported by the Komi Political Prisoner channel.

According to the channel, the man was taken to the station because he had forgotten his passport at home. During the detention, the police asked “many provocative questions,” but the Ukhta resident refused to testify against himself, invoking Article 51 of the Constitution.

The authorities also stated that the man’s behaviour and speech “seem strange” to them. They offered him a medical examination, and after he agreed, took him to a drug treatment facility. He was later released with a delivery protocol, a referral, and a certificate of examination.

Afterwards, the man returned to the memorial and discovered that the monument to the prisoners of Ukhtpechlag had been covered with snow and packed down with a shovel. There were also traces of boots left in the snow.

A court in St Petersburg has found local resident Nina Akimova guilty under the article on inciting hatred or enmity (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Offences Code). This was reported by the press service of the St Petersburg courts.

Akimova posted several comments from her smartphone on VKontakte, including the following: “WOULD BE GOOD TO STRANGLE YOU BASTARDS—Putinists!!!” According to the press service, an expert analysis found “linguistic and psychological indicators of degrading the dignity of a group of people identified by their allegiance to the President of the Russian Federation, V. V. Putin.”

In court, Akimova explained that she had posted these comments to express her opinion and so that “the current authorities would know the people’s views on certain shortcomings,” but admitted that she should have expressed herself in a more appropriate way.

The Dzerzhinsky District Court in St Petersburg fined her 10,000 roubles (approx. US$110).

In St Petersburg, two students from the Bonch-Bruevich State University of Telecommunications have been detained for twice shouting a “Ukrainian greeting,” reports Fontanka. They were reported to police by the deputy vice-rector for security.

According to journalists, a call from a university representative was received at Police Department No. 78 during the day on 13 February. Security forces arrived at the scene and detained two students from the first and second year in a corridor.

“It was established that, while walking down the corridor, they twice shouted a Ukrainian greeting out of hooligan motives,” Fontanka’s article says.

The young people were then taken to the police station, where police drew up protocols against them for publicly displaying extremist organisation symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). Security forces are considering opening a criminal case against the students.

14:57 Two St Petersburg State University of Telecommunications students who yelled the “Ukrainian greeting” have been sentenced to five days’ arrest under the article on displaying extremist organisation symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code), reports RusNews.

In addition to the deputy vice-rector, the young men’s friends also testified against them to police. RusNews adds that the students were playing a game to see who could shout the “Ukrainian greeting” louder. The students themselves said they “did not intend to offend anyone” and the shouting was “a stupid joke.”

On 28 January, the Proletarsky District Court in Saransk fined a local resident 1,000 roubles (about US$11) for posting a meme featuring Adolf Hitler and a swastika. This was reported by “Ostorozhno, novosti.”

The woman was found guilty under the article on displaying Nazi symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). She was charged for a meme she posted nine years ago, which included a photo of Hitler and the caption: “So where are your hands, where are your hands, let’s raise our hands and do the salute.”

In Moscow, the bookshop Falanster cancelled the launch of Kirill Medvedev’s book, “Antifascism for Everyone. Revised and Expanded,” following reports by pro-war Z-channels. The cancellation was reported on Facebook by Boris Kupriyanov, the founder of Falanster, as noted by the media outlet Current Time.

The launch of the antifascist book, which in particular discusses the murders of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova, was due to take place this evening.

Boris Kupriyanov pointed out that the report was made by the channel “Sons of Monarchy.” However, as Current Time noted, the first post accusing the book’s author, Kirill Medvedev, was published by “URAL LIVE.” In the post, Medvedev was described as a “radical” who “collected money for terrorists and saboteurs” and who “decided to throw a party for himself in the centre of Moscow.”

Later, the channel “Sons of Monarchy” reposted this publication, adding that the book launch was “a good reason for both right-wing and normal left-wing patriots to come to this event” and to ask Medvedev questions “about his civic position.”

Boris Kupriyanov stated that the authors of these channels “hate real antifascists,” including Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, who were killed by neo-Nazis.

“They hate them in a primitive way, to the point of convulsions, to trembling hands. And they easily join together to inform on others (as they know no other way) in order to ban, to shut out,” added the founder of Falanster.

The movement “Zov Naroda” (demanded that the Prosecutor General’s Office and the FSB “deal with the foreign agent” Kirill Medvedev and investigate him “for rehabilitating Nazism,” because of his performance of the song “Sacred War” with obscene language and “conducting subversive activities” in Russia.

• Kirill Medvedev is the founder of the Free Marxist Publishing House, a political activist, vocalist, and guitarist for the band Arkady Kots. He was a member of the left-wing political organisation Russian Socialist Movement (RSD), which in April 2024 was declared a “foreign agent” by the Ministry of Justice. A month later, the RSD announced its self-dissolution.

Sergei Kustov, the editor-in-chief of the Ivanovo-based media outlet “IvanovoNEWS | BARS,” has been fined 100,000 rubles (approximately US$1,100) over a mistake in the surname of a Russian soldier missing in Ukraine. This was reported by “7×7.”

The Frunzensky District Court found Kustov guilty of “discrediting the Russian army” (part 1, article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). A report was filed against the journalist in January.

In November 2024, the outlet published the names of 17 servicemembers from Ivanovo Oblast who had gone missing in the war in Ukraine, but spelled one of the surnames incorrectly. Law enforcement considered this to be “spreading unverified information as factual.”

“IvanovoNEWS | BARS” openly supports the war. Previously, Kustov stated that the policeman simply wants to “settle scores” because the outlet has demanded that another high-ranking Ministry of Internal Affairs official be punished: “who blatantly lies and whose actions contain signs of a criminal offence.”

In Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, the concert by singer Dora (Darya Shikhanova), which was scheduled for 14 February, has been definitively cancelled. The performance had already been postponed twice to other dates. The organisers announced the cancellation on 4 February here.

No reason for the concert’s cancellation has been given. Dora is among the performers included on an unofficial “blacklist” of artists. On 24 February 2022, she wrote on social media that she was postponing the release of her new album: “This seems so insignificant and foolish. I am endlessly sorry, all of this is incredibly frightening. I wish this was not real,” the singer noted.

The Nakhodka City Court has fined a local resident 12,000 roubles (approximately US$130) for a comment about people supporting the war in Ukraine. This was reported by the regional press service for the courts.

The man was found guilty under the article for inciting hatred (Art. 20.3.1 of the Administrative Code); he pleaded guilty and expressed remorse. According to law enforcement, on 3 March last year the man who was fined posted a comment on a group Telegram chat message.

In Vladimir, a city to the east of Moscow, a cashier was fired from Pyaterochka supermarket after a customer filmed and insulted them over their makeup, reported local pro-government journalist Aleksandr Stepanov on his Telegram channel.

“One of these so-called defenders of traditional values must be feeling a lot better: that cashier was fired from Pyaterochka. Whatever the case, I don’t consider mocking a person to be a traditional value—though apparently, some people do,” he wrote.

The Vladimir-based outlet Dovod reports that this information was confirmed by a source in the local branch of the Interior Ministry. The outlet describes the cashier as a transgender woman, but there has been no definite information about this person’s gender identity.

Recently, a video was circulating on social media, filmed by a customer who insulted the cashier for wearing makeup. The customer used several homophobic slurs.

“Guys are dying for faggots like you, is that it, you jerk, fuck? Why are you wearing makeup, why the hell are you doing your eyebrows? You should be a man too,” the customer said to the Pyaterochka staff member. He also expressed outrage: “Why the hell do they hire faggots?”

After this, “Veterans of Russia” demanded an explanation from the X5 Group, which operates the Pyaterochka supermarket chain. They also filed complaints with the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee, requesting an investigation “to check for possible breaches of the law related to LGBT propaganda.”

According to the court decision, on 31 January Gabov publicly spoke out against the “special military operation” in a passenger carriage and said he wanted to help Ukraine. It is noted that Gabov admitted guilt and expressed remorse.

On 30 January, the Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow fined philologist and former coordinator of Golos in the Moscow region, Inna Karezina, 15,000 roubles (approximately US$160) under the article on participation in the activities of an “undesirable organisation” (Art. 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by the Moscow courts’ joint press office.

The reason was a YouTube video in which Karezina states that she is a member of Golos, as specified in the ruling on the court’s website. In September 2021, she and other movement coordinators were labelled as “foreign agents.”

A protocol has been drawn up against Shiyes defender and former Severodvinsk city councillor Sergey Ilyukhin for failing to report himself as a “foreign agent” (part 1 of article 19.34 of the Administrative Code). He shared this on his page on VKontakte. His post was noticed by the outlet 7×7.

“It turns out that before being added to the foreign agents register, I should have realised I was under foreign influence, reported this to the Ministry of Justice, and acquired the status. And, for good measure, I was supposed to end my council and any other political activity, and stop expressing my opinions on government decisions and policies. That’s how it is!” Ilyukhin recounted, summarising an explanation given by Ulyana Strunina from the Arkhangelsk region’s Ministry of Justice office.

Ilyukhin was added to the “foreign agents” list on 18 October 2024. The Ministry of Justice explained that this was because the councillor “spread false information” about the Russian authorities’ policies and “as a correspondent” appeared on the information platforms of “foreign agents” (most likely referring to his blog on the 7×7 media outlet website, which had also been added to the register earlier). On 25 October, due to this status, the Severodvinsk city council revoked Ilyukhin’s mandate.

In the Krasny Fakel Theatre in Novosibirsk—a major city in Siberia—a performance of The Case, directed by Dmitry Yegorov, was cancelled following a demand from law enforcement agents, reports NGS, citing its sources.

On 1 February, the theatre announced the replacement of The Case, which had been scheduled to be performed that same evening. The cancellation was explained by technical reasons.

According to NGS, several sources familiar with the situation said that the performance was cancelled on the firm recommendation of law enforcement.

“The response from law enforcement was apparently prompted by a complaint from a dissatisfied audience member. It is assumed that The Case will no longer appear in the theatre’s repertoire,” one source said.

Yulia Shchetkova, head of press at Krasny Fakel, insisted in her correspondence with an NGS journalist that the performance was cancelled due to technical reasons. In response to a question on the theatre’s Telegram channel about whether there would be any performances of The Case this season, the channel administrator replied that none were planned for March and the repertoire for the following months had not yet been set.

The premiere of the performance took place at Krasny Fakel in 2020. On the theatre’s website, it is described as a satirical production telling the story of a high-society fraudster whose ex-fiancée is accused of criminal conspiracy as a result of his scams. The woman’s father, in order to help her, plans to give a large bribe to the “master of the case,” a state councillor.

“The performance is a ruthless satire that knows no temporal bounds,” reads the description for The Case.

In reviews posted in the theatre’s public group, audience members noted that the production addresses issues with the judicial system and corruption, and is also filled with “jokes on political themes” and references to recent events.

Former theatre director Aleksandr Kulyabin is currently on trial, accused of exceeding official powers (para. “v” pt. 3 art. 286 of the Criminal Code) and embezzlement on a large scale (pts. 3 and 4 art. 160 of the Criminal Code). He headed Krasny Fakel for 23 years and was dismissed as director at the end of 2022. That same year, productions by his son, director Timofey Kulyabin—who spoke out against the war in Ukraine and resigned as chief director—were removed from the theatre’s repertoire.

The story has been corrected to fix an inaccurate description of the play’s plot. We apologise for the error.

A woman living in annexed Sevastopol has been fined 50,000 roubles (around US$550) under the law on “propaganda of refusal to have children” online (part 3, article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of posts on social media. This was reported by the city’s police Telegram channel. The post was highlighted by the Feminist Anti-War Resistance.

It is not known which court issued the sentence. OVD-Info was unable to find a record of the case.

Authorities described the 29-year-old woman as a “fan of the childfree movement.” According to them, she “posted misanthropic content, including statements about the appeal of refusing to have children in favour of a carefree lifestyle.”

The police post is accompanied by screenshots of reposts from meme groups on VKontakte. Two of them feature actors and characters—including Rick from the animated series “Rick and Morty”—making obscene gestures (in most cases, police partially or fully blurred the raised middle finger); in the third meme, a photo of director Quentin Tarantino is accompanied by a quote allegedly from him: “Making films, not kids, is my motto. To hell with snot-nosed little bastards, I want to have fun” (the words “to hell” and “bastards” were also partially blurred by the authorities). Most likely, it is this latter meme that has been deemed a “statement about the appeal of refusing to have children in favour of a carefree lifestyle.” Police did not explain how the images with obscene gestures relate to refusing to have children.

The law banning “childfree propaganda,” which expanded the scope of the legislation on so-called “LGBT propaganda,” was signed by Putin on 23 November last year.

The Tverskoy District Court in Moscow has fined streamer Alexey Gubanov, known as JesusAVGN, 50,000 rubles (approximately US$550) after he was charged with “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3 part 1 of the Administrative Offences Code), reports SOTAvision.

The charge was based on a half-hour video published on the “Hesus Stream” channel titled “Hesus. The advance of the AFU in Kursk region. Putin’s panic. The situation on the frontline.” The court did not specify which statements the police considered to be “forming a negative attitude towards the ‘special military operation.’” The judge said this was due to the use of obscene language.

Gubanov’s lawyer Alena Savelyeva pointed out that the recording had not been published by the streamer himself or on his official channels, but rather by an unidentified person. She also noted that the streamer was expressing concern for conscript soldiers being sent to the frontline, rather than criticising the goals of the ‘special military operation’ itself.

Savelyeva demanded the case be closed, citing the statute of limitations, violations in the protocol, and the lack of the main piece of evidence in the case materials—the disk with the video, which was the basis for the protocol and referenced by the linguistic expert in their report.

Gubanov is one of the most popular Russian-language streamers on Twitch, and his YouTube channel has almost 1.4 million subscribers. In recent years he has been living in the United States. In October 2024, the streamer said that FSB officers had visited his parents, who live in Novokuznetsk, a major city in Siberia. Security forces suspected him of donating to the Ukrainian army, specifically the “Azov” unit. He denied this.

Lolita’s concerts have been cancelled in Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk. Venue representatives stated this was due to force majeure, reports “Siberian Express.”

In Kemerovo, a major city in Siberia, the concert was scheduled to be held on 17 February at the Arena sports complex, but the organisers announced that cable repairs would be taking place in the hall that day.

In Novokuznetsk, also a major Siberian city, the owner of the venue said that their “facility safety certificate had expired.”

“You understand that this is all about safety regulations—it’s a catastrophic situation. This means some don’t have a safety certificate but still hold concerts and festivals, while others have issues with cables, and cables mean fire risk. I am certain that their fire safety systems are not fully in order. <…> So just don’t go to these venues—it’s dangerous. They have admitted as much themselves,” commented Lolita.

The Vsevolozhsk District Court in St Petersburg fined former local council member from the Yabloko party, Fedor Utkin, 30,000 roubles (approximately US$330) under the article on carrying out “foreign agent” activities without self-reporting for inclusion in the register (Part 1, Article 19.34 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by “Bumaga.”

Utkin was charged over posts on VKontakte made in 2024. The posts contained links to materials from “Dozhd” and a music video by the singer Monetochka, as well as commentary on the presidential election, Boris Nadezhdin, and the death of Alexei Navalny. These posts appeared before the politician was entered into the “foreign agents” register, which happened in July 2024. After Utkin was designated a “foreign agent,” he deleted all posts with links to other “foreign agents” and statements about politics, but the court did not take this into account.

The Nagatinsky District Court of Moscow has fined bard songwriter Andrei Buyanov more than 300,000 roubles (about US$3,250) on ten counts of “discrediting” the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by “Ostorozhno, novosti.”

Information about the hearings in Andrei Buyanov’s cases is also published on the court’s official website. All ten hearings took place on 27 January, with the same judge presiding at each of them.

According to the court’s published rulings, Buyanov posted anti-war statements, his own songs, and poems on his VKontakte page. In one of his songs, he wrote:

“It turned out my friends welcomed hell… And you can write on VKontakte about your yearning for the church, And you can piously post a family selfie, Craft wise songs, like the serpent king, But February forever showed us—WHO IS WHO.”

In another post, for which Buyanov was fined, he mentioned the memorial service for Alexei Navalny and Christianity in the context of the war with Ukraine: “I admire the people who were not afraid and came to the memorial and funeral of NAME,—the court quotes Buyanov’s text.—A symbolic video—against the backdrop of the church people are chanting what should have been heard in churches these two years: ‘No to war! ’ But it isn’t heard. The voice of God, expelled from the churches…”

Andrei Buyanov attended all the hearings. According to the rulings, he admitted his guilt in committing the administrative offence.

A protocol for demonstrating prohibited symbols (part 1, article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) has been drawn up against Saratov activist Sergei Ryzhov because of an image published on VKontakte eight years ago, reports the Telegram channel “The Case of Sergei Ryzhov.” The channel’s post was highlighted by the media outlet Svobodnye Novosti (“Free News”).

The channel notes that the image was published before the organisation it is associated with was banned. The post does not specify the name of the organisation or describe the contents of the image.

Police officers from Saratov’s Volzhsky District, who are responsible for administrative supervision of the activist, informed Ryzhov about the administrative case.

In October 2023, Ryzhov was released from a penal colony, where he had served a six-year sentence in connection with a case on preparing a terrorist attack (part 1, article 205 of the Criminal Code, with reference to part 1, article 30 of the Criminal Code) and illegal possession of explosives (part 1, article 222.1 of the Criminal Code). Investigators said the activist planned to stage a terrorist attack on 4 and 5 November 2017 and was seeking accomplices among members of the “Artpodgotovka” movement. Ryzhov denied guilt and claimed that police planted TNT and bottles of incendiary mixture during the search. After his release from the colony, he was placed under administrative supervision for ten years.

20:50 The Volzhsky District Court of Saratov fined Sergei Ryzhov 1,500 roubles (about US$17), finding him guilty of publicly displaying the symbols of an extremist organisation. This was reported by Svobodnye Novosti.

Previously, on 16 January, a court fined him two thousand roubles (approx. US$22) over another anti-war cartoon published on Strava. This one showed a swastika with the caption “never again” and the letter Z with the word “again.” The court found Maksim guilty of displaying Nazi symbols (under Article 20.3, part 1, of the Code of Administrative Offences). After the first administrative case, this resident of Nizhny Novgorod was fired from his job the same day.

As reported by the joint press service of the courts of St Petersburg, the Primorsky District Court has registered a case under the article dealing with the failure to comply with a lawful order or warning to address violations of the “foreign agents” legislation (Part 42, Article 19.5 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

Nevzorova reposted the item on her Telegram channel. Following this, she was issued a written warning with a demand to “rectify the violation.” She did not do so.

The Sovetsky District Court in Ryazan has sentenced Yevgeny Ovchinnikov to seven days’ administrative arrest under the article on displaying the symbols of a banned organisation (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The announcement from the court’s press service was reported by Mediazona.

The reason for the prosecution was the shout of “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!” in the street, which law enforcement interpreted as “attributes of greeting for the extremist organisation ‘Ukrainian Organisation’ ‘Ukrainian National Assembly—Ukrainian People’s Self-Defence.’”

Two more residents of Khabarovsk Krai have each been fined 1,000 roubles (about US$11) over the “I/WE are Sergei Furgal” symbol. The SOVA Centre reported the court rulings.

Victoria Pukhova had a sticker with this symbol on the rear window of her car when traffic police stopped her in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a city in the Russian Far East. The Central District Court of Komsomolsk-on-Amur summarised her statement: “This sticker was placed on the car about two years ago. Pukhova does not know exactly who put it there, as the car is often left in the yard of her home due to her family not having a garage. She was unaware that it could be considered an extremist message. She had never before been stopped over this sticker.”

Evgeny Krivetsky was charged over a video on Odnoklassniki, a Russian social media platform, which featured posters bearing the slogan “I/WE are Sergei Furgal.” Krivetsky did not attend the hearing at Khabarovsky District Court.

Pukhova was fined on 20 December, and Krivetsky on 23 December 2024.

In February 2024, the Khabarovsk Regional Court recognised the “I/WE are Sergei Furgal” movement as an extremist organisation and banned its activities. According to the prosecution, which brought the case, the movement “under the guise of defending and supporting the former governor” called for prohibited activity and used “various political technologies,” including the organisation of unsanctioned protests.

The Oktyabrsky District Court of Arkhangelsk has fined former SOTAproject staff member Darya Poryadina five thousand roubles (US$55) under the article concerning participation in the activities of an “undesirable organisation” (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences). SOTA reported this.

In December, a case was brought against her for her work with the SOTAproject media outlet.

Anatoly Bannykh, a worker at the Ural automobile plant and chair of an independent trade union in Miass, Chelyabinsk region (an industrial city in the Urals), has been sentenced to five days in detention over a photo showing his tattoos that was posted on VKontakte in 2019. Human rights activist Valentina Komkova reported this.

An administrative case was opened under the article on the display of extremist symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The reason was a photo of Bannykh with his son. Tattoos in the shape of eight-pointed stars are visible on his knees, which law enforcement officers deemed to be the symbol of the ‘AUE movement’.

“Yes, there’s a photo with Anatoly and his son on VKontakte. Yes, Anatoly has tattoos on his knees—a lifelong reminder of the 1990s… So what? How exactly do you imagine the ‘confiscation of banned material’? Will you cut the stars out of his knees? Nonsense!” Valentina Komkova commented on the police report.

Previously, Bannykh served 14 days of detention over another administrative case on displaying extremist symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) after posting Alexei Navalny’s video “Response to General Zolotov” on VKontakte. The video had in fact been posted on the man’s page back in 2018.

Two days after the original detention ruling, the court issued a further decision, this time on a second charge of disobeying police orders (Part 1, Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The court sentenced the man to five more days in detention. According to police, Bannykh refused to get into a patrol car.

A 30-year-old Crimean, Asan O., has been fined 100,000 rubles (approximately US$1,100) under the article on “LGBT propaganda” (part 3, article 6.21 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences). The information was discovered by Verstka.

The reason was a video posted on Odnoklassniki showing several people holding a rainbow flag and a photo of Vladimir Putin with makeup. The video was captioned: “There are GAYS working in Putin’s administration.”

At the court hearing, the man explained that he had not uploaded the video to his own page, but had simply given a “like” to a post published by an acquaintance. After that, the post appeared on the Crimean’s profile. Verstka notes that this is indeed how the “like” system on Odnoklassniki works.