The letter 'N' and other images: how the article on prohibited symbols is being applied: Human rights news, court updates & analysis | 51 related articles

18.09.2025

12:52

The Zheleznodorozhny District Court in Krasnoyarsk, a major city in Siberia, fined a local resident one thousand roubles (US$11) because of music saved on their VKontakte page. The news outlet Prospekt Mira drew attention to the court’s ruling, published on the court’s website, reporting on the case.

The authorities’ attention was drawn to the tracks “Jackpot” and “Po Funku” from the album “Injection” by the band Tyazhyolaya Atletika. The cover for “Injection” references the iconic Pink Floyd design: a white beam passing through a prism and refracted into a rainbow. On the “Injection” cover, the prism is replaced by a syringe. The court regarded the rainbow on the cover as LGBT movement symbolism.

In addition, the court ruling states that one of the track titles contained a swastika. This symbol is no longer present in the track names from “Injection” currently available on VKontakte.

15.09.2025

14:06

Saint Petersburg

Nationalist Savva Fedoseyev has been sentenced to 15 days’ arrest over a photo of politician Alexei Navalny, reports “Bumaga.”

As clarified by SOTAvision, the protocol was drawn up because of a photo of Navalny at the Russian March.

The Kirovsky District Court of St Petersburg found Fedoseyev guilty of displaying banned symbols (Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

On 18 September, the St Petersburg City Court reduced Savva Fedoseyev’s administrative arrest by two days. This was reported on the activist’s Telegram channel.

11.09.2025

18:44

Saint Petersburg

Mikhail Amosov, a member of the St Petersburg Legislative Assembly, has been fined for displaying banned symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Offences Code) because of two photographs of Alexei Navalny, reports Bumaga.

The Kalininsky District Court fined Amosov 1,500 roubles (about US$16).

The protocol was drawn up following two posts on the deputy’s Telegram channel on the day of Navalny’s death, which featured photographs of the politician, clarifies Mediazona. In one of them, Amosov wrote that Navalny “could have been of use to the country if he were free.”

“I plead guilty. I did not know it was a violation; I had no intent, and I did not want to promote the Anti-Corruption Foundation or Navalny’s headquarters. I wanted to pay respects to Navalny, who I personally knew. Since I knew him personally, I thought it necessary to express my position regarding the death of the person. I did not know it was against the law, and I deeply regret and repent. I learned it was a violation of the law from journalists,” Amosov said at the hearing.

Bumaga notes that once the decision to hold someone liable under Article 20.3 of the Administrative Offences Code enters into legal force, they are barred from participating in elections for a year. On 20 September 2026, elections for the city’s Legislative Assembly and the State Duma will be held in St Petersburg. The decision in the administrative case will take effect in ten days, unless appealed—so in this case, on 21 September. If Amosov does not appeal or does not succeed in having the decision overturned by a higher court, he will not be able to run in the next elections.

25.08.2025

13:05

Moscow

Nikita S., a student at Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics (MTUCI), has been fined under the article on displaying prohibited symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code) for a gif featuring a swastika, according to “Ostorozhno, novosti.”

The outlet does not specify which court issued the ruling. The amount of the fine is unknown.

At the beginning of July, an administrative protocol was drawn up against Nikita S. because of a message sent in January 2024 to one of the student group chats. At that time, he wrote: “The group is going to the consultation” and attached a gif taken from the computer game Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, which shows soldiers marching in uniforms bearing the coat of arms of Nazi Germany. The game depicts an alternative version of events from the Second World War, in which the Nazis have managed to capture the United States.

The student did not plead guilty and stated that he sent the gif “to show his negative attitude towards Nazism.”

“Ostorozhno, novosti” notes that officers from the Centre for Combating Extremism (Centre “E”) established the alleged offence two weeks after the ultra-right movement “Russian Community” accused MTUCI students of promoting Nazism. The accusations were triggered by several messages from students making jokes about topics related to Nazism and Hitler. Among them was Nikita S.’s message.

“There is open propaganda of Nazism in the student group chats, teachers are being given the names of the most brutal Nazi criminals who killed women and children in concentration camps, they approve the horrors of the Holocaust, incite interethnic hatred, and publicly insult members of the authorities,” the movement claimed.

At that time, the “Russian Community” asked law enforcement to look into this information.

22.08.2025

16:41

The Kurgan City Court has fined a local resident one thousand roubles (approximately US$11) for posting an image of Satan online. This was reported by RIA Novosti.

The man was found guilty under the article on displaying the symbols of an extremist organisation (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). “The Kurgan resident was summoned to court for publishing an image of Satan, which has recently been recognised as extremist,” quoted URA.RU from a source in law enforcement.

It is believed that the case concerns Vladislav Pylkov, whose case file under this article has been published on the Kurgan City Court website.

Pylkov is a beauty pageant founder and organiser of a multi-championship event for beauty professionals in Kurgan, a city in the Urals. On 15 August—the day of the court’s decision—he wrote on his VKontakte page that he had been detained, taken to the police, and then to court.

“I wanted to start a new chapter in the city—to bring famous people here so that locals could meet them in person and not just see them on TV. But unfortunately, some people are not pleased with the success of others. Extremism accusations out of nowhere—a design mistake became a reason for harassment,” Pylkov wrote.

On 17 August, URA.RU reported that Tatiana Larina, a star of ‘Battle of the Psychics,’ was due to come to Kurgan for a children’s beauty contest, but her visit was cancelled. “As the organiser of the children’s beauty contest ‘Miss Beauty Kurgan,’ I was put under pressure. I was forced to call Larina and cancel her appearance at our event,” URA.RU quoted Pylkov as saying.

In July, the Supreme Court of Russia designated the “international Satanism movement” as an extremist organisation. According to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, “followers of the cult, which is based on hatred and hostility towards traditional religious denominations,” allegedly call “for the destruction of Orthodox shrines, reject social norms, justify neo-Nazi ideas, and commit ritual and other crimes.”

30.07.2025

20:53

Saint Petersburg

Ivan Apostolevsky, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast and leader of the Communist Party (KPRF) faction, has been jailed for seven days under the article on promoting the symbols of an extremist organisation (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing the regional courts’ press service.

Apostolevsky was detained yesterday, 29 July, at Moscow Railway Station in St Petersburg while returning from a work trip to China. The reason for the prosecution was his posts about Navalny from 2017. The deputy denies having written anything about the politician on social media.

1 August Details emerged regarding the specific reason for Apostolevsky’s arrest. An explanation appeared on the KPRF website, which was noted by the Telegram channel “Govorit NeMoskva.”

The charge of promoting extremist symbols against the deputy did indeed stem from a publication about Alexey Navalny. The post included the cover of the communist youth newspaper LKSМ “Fonar” (“Lantern”), which featured a photo of Navalny. In his post, Apostolevsky also sharply criticised Navalny’s activities, using Lenin’s assessments of liberalism.

“Navalny appears on the cover of the newspaper ‘Fonar’—that’s true. But his photo is part of a larger image that includes accompanying text. So what does this text say? Is it in support of Navalny? Not at all—quite the opposite. Moreover, a person’s photo and the depiction of a symbol are, after all, different things, aren’t they?” commented Dmitry Novikov, chair of the KPRF Central Committee, on the situation.

On the page of the Leningrad Oblast branch of the KPRF, it was also reported that on 1 August the regional court rejected Apostolevsky’s appeal against his arrest.

29.07.2025

13:53

Ivan Apostolevsky, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Region and leader of the Communist Party (KPRF) faction, was detained over posts about Alexei Navalny from eight years ago. This was reported by 47news.

Officers from Centre “E” detained Apostolevsky at Moscow Railway Station in St Petersburg as he was returning from a work trip to China.

The reason for the prosecution was Apostolevsky’s 2017 posts about Navalny. The deputy denies having written anything about the politician on social media.

“I don’t post anything like that at all—neither about extremism nor about Navalny. I haven’t been given the case materials yet. I’m sure it’s actually connected to the election campaign. And also to our principled stance on all the issues—about the factory, the waste reform, and the landfills. Do you think they just dug up something from 2017 for no reason?” the deputy told 47news.

15:05 Security forces also summoned Apostolevsky’s associate, Larisa Mukhina, to the police for a report to be filed. This was reported by SOTAvision.

Mukhina is the Communist Party (KPRF) candidate for governor of Leningrad Region. She is accused of violating campaign regulations because of a post on VKontakte. The complaint against Mukhina was filed by Maria Karpova, an employee of the administration in Kingisepp, a town near St Petersburg.

“Citizen Karpova filed a complaint with the police, allegedly claiming that I posted an illegal campaign announcement in the Southern Kingisepp VK group. Of course I don’t have access to that group and I didn’t make such a post. And just as I didn’t distribute illegal campaign materials on 12 July at the district party committee’s office,” said Larisa Mukhina.

23.07.2025

18:59

On 21 July, the Zelenograd District Court in Moscow fined an elderly former military officer with the surname Yegorov under the article on displaying banned symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The decision was highlighted by “Govorít ne Moskva.”

The protocol against Yegorov was drawn up following a report by the chairperson of the same court, who contacted Centre “E” (Centre for Combating Extremism). In May, the elderly man lodged an appeal regarding his claim for delayed wages. According to the text of the ruling, the document contained propaganda for the “Citizens of the USSR” association, which has been banned since 2022. Law enforcement claim that, in this way, the man promoted the activities of the association.

Yegorov did not admit guilt, emphasising that he sent the appeal exclusively to the court and never published its text anywhere else. In his view, this means he did not promote the “Citizens of the USSR.” Nevertheless, the elderly man was fined. The amount of the fine is unknown.

12.07.2025

17:01

Moscow

44-year-old carpenter Dmitry Gerya was sentenced to five days of administrative detention because of a chain with a trident pendant. The local news outlet “Ostorozhno, novosti” (“Caution, News”) drew attention to a ruling by the Golovinsky District Court in Moscow ordering the resident’s arrest.

According to the court, on 6 July Gerya went outside wearing a chain with a white metal pendant shaped like a trident emblem. The court held that by doing so, he “committed public demonstration of the Nazi symbolism of extremist organisations” (part 1, article 20.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences).

The man pleaded guilty and said that a friend had given him the chain 10 years ago.

“After drinking, he decided to put it on without paying attention to the image or the inscription,” the court ruling says.

In addition to the administrative detention, the court also ordered the confiscation of Gerya’s pendant.

07.07.2025

21:44

Saint Petersburg

The Smolninsky District Court of St Petersburg sentenced local resident Evgeny Elgin to 10 days of administrative detention. According to the court, he posted a comment in the Telegram channel of journalist Alexander Nevzorov, beginning with the words: “Glory to Ukraine—Glory to the Heroes….”

The court deemed this to be “the official greeting of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN),” which is designated as extremist in Russia. Elgin received administrative detention under the article on propaganda of Nazi symbols (part 1, article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

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The letter 'N' and other images: how the article on prohibited symbols is being applied

30.07.2025

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