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

24.01.2025

10:51

On 16 January, the Kanavinsky District Court in Nizhny Novgorod fined a local resident named Maksim two thousand roubles (approx. US$22) under the article on displaying prohibited symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code) because of an anti-war cartoon featuring Strava. Maksim himself reported this to OVD-Info.

The picture depicted a swastika next to the phrase “never again,” while the Z symbol was accompanied by the word “again.” On 15 January, the man was detained and spent the night at the police station of the Leninsky district in Nizhny Novgorod. The following day, he was fined. Afterwards, Maksim was dismissed from his job with immediate effect.

23.01.2025

20:42

Khabarovsk Krai

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.

12:04

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.

20.01.2025

21:00

Rostov Oblast

On 10 December 2024, Alexander Basansky, a resident of Rostov region in southern Russia, was sentenced to 15 days in jail under the article concerning the display of banned symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This information was published on the website of the Novocherkassk City Court, as noted by the SOVA research centre.

The case was prompted by two posts the man made on VKontakte. In one of them, he referred to the white-blue-white flag as “the flag of a free Russia of the future” and attached an image of it. The second post featured a photograph of a T-shirt with the words “Navalny’s Team.”

17.01.2025

14:54

Voronezh Oblast

In Voronezh, a major city in southwestern Russia, left-wing activist Nikita Lopatin has been detained under charges of displaying prohibited symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code), his lawyer Dmitry Bereznikov told OVD-Info.

“I am not yet familiar with the case material,” he said. “According to what Nikita himself said—it’s about displaying a swastika, but the absurdity here is that Nikita is a committed communist and could not have displayed it in the sense intended by the article.” Bereznikov believes that pressure is being put on Lopatin because of his activism, particularly related to the Voronezh taxi drivers’ strike and issues with student funding at Voronezh University.

Lopatin was taken to City Police Station No. 6.

In October 2024, the activist was detained ahead of an event commemorating the victims of the 1993 White House shootings. He was charged with a repeat offence of violating protest legislation (Part 8, Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code), but at that time the court returned the case files to the police. He was later sentenced to one day’s detention, which he served while already in the station following his arrest. In 2023, the court issued Lopatin a warning for calling on people to attend a protest demanding the mayor’s resignation.

15:50 Lopatin is being charged with displaying Nazi symbols in a post on the “Antifa ru” channel, which reports the arrest of a suspected member of the far-right group Made With Hate. The post includes photos and videos of far-right activists, including some next to their graffiti on walls.

18:33 Lopatin was taken from the police station by ambulance, reports RusNews. The reason for hospitalisation is not yet known.

20:57 Lopatin has been hospitalised at City Emergency Hospital No. 10 “Elektronika,” his lawyer Dmitry Bereznikov told OVD-Info.

He added that a court hearing in Lopatin’s administrative case was scheduled for the following day, but Lopatin has now been admitted to hospital for at least three days. According to his lawyer, Lopatin is in a pre-stroke condition, and before being hospitalised he complained of fever, severe headache and palpitations.

Even before the hospitalisation, the Telegram channel “Soviet Revenge” reported that at the police station Lopatin had complained of feeling unwell. This was why an ambulance was called. That channel also described the activist’s condition as pre-stroke.

21 January The Central District Court of Voronezh fined Lopatin one thousand roubles (about US$11) for displaying prohibited symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code), his lawyer Dmitry Bereznikov told OVD-Info.

He stated that yesterday, 20 January, Lopatin was discharged from hospital after his condition improved. Lopatin spent three days there.

15.01.2025

13:37

Moscow

A Moscow court has sentenced local resident Alexei K. to 15 days in detention over a question about the RDC flag. This was reported by “Ostorozhno, novosti” (“Caution, News”).

In 2023, Alexei K. asked in the comments section of RDC founder Denis Kapustin where he could buy the movement’s flag. Alexei K. also attached the RDC logo to his post.

In January 2025, while Alexei K. was serving an administrative sentence in another case for petty hooliganism (Art. 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences), law enforcement officers discovered the comment. The Moscow resident was charged with displaying banned symbols (Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). In court, he stated that he had left the comment before the RDC was banned and had forgotten to delete it.

14.01.2025

20:48

Kemerovo Oblast

The Central District Court of Novokuznetsk has fined first-year student Aleksandr Gaan from the Kemerovo Institute of Food Industry Technology over a humorous video featuring an image of Adolf Hitler, which he posted on VKontakte six years ago. The court’s decision was noted by the SOVA Research Centre.

On 6 December, Gaan was fined 1,000 roubles (about US$11) under the article on displaying Nazi symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

The court ruling says that the video was discovered in November 2024 on the student’s page, which he managed under the name “Sanya Galaktionov.” In his video section, he had uploaded a clip titled “Saint Jesus,” which had originally been posted eight years prior in a humorous group of the same name. The video consists of documentary footage of Hitler’s speeches, Nazi supporters and soldiers. Over these visuals plays a song from a cough syrup advertisement for “Ambrobene,” which begins: “I arrive from Germany, bringing a healing syrup.”

In court, Gaan admitted guilt and said he had deleted the video from his page.

“We believe Gaan was punished unlawfully. From our point of view, those who should be held liable under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences are people who use Nazi symbols to promote the relevant ideology. The video Gaan added to his page is purely humorous in nature, and there is no reason to think it was used to promote Nazism,” the SOVA Centre noted.

19:16

On 10 January, the Tushinsky District Court in Moscow sentenced B. Salimov, a citizen of Uzbekistan, to 14 days’ administrative arrest for wearing a cap with the inscription “AUE.” The relevant ruling has been published on the court’s website. The outlet “Ostorozhno, Moskva” drew attention to the case.

Salimov was found guilty under the article on displaying the symbols of an extremist organisation (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). According to the ruling, on 9 January Salimov was in an underground passage when police officers spotted his cap, “which had an image of an eight-pointed star on the side and the abbreviation ‘AUE’ on the visor.”

In August 2020, the Supreme Court of Russia declared the “Arrestants’ Criminal Unity” (AUE) a so-called extremist movement. The SOVA Centre noted that “AUE” is not a unified movement and does not have a political ideology.

12.01.2025

18:07

Khabarovsk Krai

Two residents of Khabarovsk have been fined under the article on displaying the symbols of an extremist organisation (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code) because of stickers reading “I/We are Sergei Furgal.” This was reported by “7×7.”

On 2 December, the Industrial District Court of Khabarovsk fined Filipp Kurakin 1,000 roubles (about US$11). He was charged because of a sticker on the rear window of his car. In court, the man said he had bought the car with the sticker already on it, and did not know that “I/We are Sergei Furgal” had been banned as a movement.

On 5 December, the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Khabarovsk issued a similar fine to another local resident, Oleg Grudinov, because of the same kind of sticker on his car. In court, he admitted his guilt and said that “I put the sticker on out of stupidity and forgot about it.”

In February 2024, the Khabarovsk Regional Court declared the “I/We are Sergei Furgal” movement an extremist organisation and banned its activities. According to the prosecutor’s office, which brought the lawsuit, the movement “under the guise of defending and supporting the former governor” called for banned activities and used “various political technologies,” including the organisation of unauthorised rallies.

10.01.2025

13:36

The Smolninsky District Court in St Petersburg has sentenced local resident Nikita Altunin to 14 days' administrative arrest over a tattoo featuring the Ukrainian trident (Article 20.3, Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by the city’s unified court press office.

The press office clarified that the trident “offends our multinational people and the memory of those who perished in the Great Patriotic War,” and is also “an official symbol of Ukrainian nationalists.”

It was noted that the complaint against Altunin was filed by a citizen, Ya., to whom the arrested person had shown the tattoo on his chest. The young man was detained on 6 January, and the court hearing took place on 9 January: Altunin admitted his guilt, adding that he is a Ukrainian citizen.

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