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The Court of Cassation in Moscow has upheld the sentence against stand-up comedian Artemiy Ostanin, who was sentenced to five years and nine months in a penal colony on charges of inciting hatred (clause “v,” part 2, article 282 of the Criminal Code) and insulting the feelings of believers (part 1, article 148 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by Mediazona.

Ostanin’s lawyer said the defence was not given enough time to prepare for the appeal: the comedian himself received a copy of the complaint only a few minutes before the hearing. Ostanin appeared in court via video link and commented on the case and his sentence.

“You can see for yourselves that this case, its very existence, is a huge stain of disgrace on the entire Russian justice system. <…> I can only quote Remarque, who wrote about Nazi Germany, that the innocent receive the most unjust and the harshest punishments. But for some reason this is happening in 2026, in a country whose only pride is its victory over the Nazis,” Ostanin said.

  • Ostanin was detained in March 2025 after making a joke about a man without legs in the metro. The comedian said that the man had run into him in a passageway, and when an elderly woman asked him “not to rush so much,” she criticised Ostanin instead. “I look at it and think, this is fucked, just a bloke, an idiot, blew himself up on a mine, decided to tear it up in the metro, and I’m the one who’s the lout,” he said. Pro-government activists decided that he was referring to a participant in the war in Ukraine, although the comedian denied this.
  • The stand-up comedian was also charged over a joke about Jesus Christ. In it, he acted out an imaginary dialogue in which, when asked what happened before the crucifixion, Christ replies: “Prayer in the garden. Because you get really thirsty after a night out.”
  • In February 2026, the court sentenced the comedian to five years and nine months in a penal colony and a fine of 300,000 roubles (approximately US$3,400) over both jokes.
  • After the case was opened, Ostanin tried to leave Russia via Belarus, where he was detained by local security forces and handed over to Russian authorities. Later, the comedian said that on the way to Russia he was taken into the woods, beaten with batons, a sandbag and a stun gun, had his dreadlocks cut off with a knife and was threatened with having his throat slit. Ostanin’s defender reported that his ribs were broken and his spine was injured.