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The Rampa Theatre in Nakhodka (a major city in Primorsky Krai, Russian Far East) cancelled its anti-fascist musical “Cabaret” due to “reasons beyond its control.” As reported by journalist Anna Sharipova, the local authorities banned the performance. This was noted by “7×7.”

According to Sharipova, Rampa’s director Andrei Yurchenko had planned to hold one closed performance “for friends.” In the end, the actors were not able to perform, and Yurchenko announced that “they have been banned from staging the play on this stage.”

“It’s said that the deputy head [of Nakhodka, Natalya Agritskaya] attended the dress rehearsal. She saw a lot of people in Nazi uniforms, women in stockings, practically orgies. But that’s just hearsay. The idea is that she was scared someone from the audience would film it and then Nakhodka would make headlines across Russia, that the municipal Youth Centre is showing Nazis and debauchery,” Sharipova told “7×7.”

The journalist noted that Rampa is an amateur theatre without its own venue. The actors perform at the municipal Youth Centre, where they also receive their salaries.

A “7×7” source at the theatre confirmed that the musical was cancelled at the request of the Nakhodka administration. According to them, officials even banned the performance for friends, “hinting at consequences in a more damaging form.”

“We’d been working on the show for a year. Costume and set sketches had been created and approved, and the orchestra had learned all the parts for the musical. Then, two weeks before the premiere, officials from the administration came and banned ticket sales (even though sales had already started). <…> The officials just respond in vague terms, saying it’s ‘inappropriate,’ and that’s it,” the source said.

Maria Makhmutova, a resident of Irkutsk region in Siberia, has been issued a protocol for “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) after criticising Russia Day and participants in the war, according to the regional Interior Ministry department. reports.

Earlier, she wrote on VKontakte that officials had decided not to draw up a protocol or open a criminal case against her: “No drugs, no alcohol, no psych ward, no remand facility, no admin charges, no criminal charges. When I know my rights even without lawyers. Info for those who were quick to celebrate,” Makhmutova said. Her page is now closed.

The Interior Ministry said the protocol was actually drawn up against her on 13 June. The case will be heard by the Kirovsky District Court in Irkutsk.

The ministry also reported that the day before, the woman left a specialised medical institution. On 17 June, RT, citing a law enforcement source, reported that Makhmutova had been sent to a psychiatric-neurological hospital.

“At present, law enforcement agencies are continuing a comprehensive investigation. Her actions are being assessed both from the perspective of criminal and administrative law,” added the Interior Ministry. On 13 June, the Investigative Committee reported that she was also being checked under the criminal article on “discrediting the army” (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code).

On 12 June, Makhmutova posted a video on her Instagram page, which has more than five thousand followers, criticising celebrations of Russia Day and condemning participants in the war in Ukraine:

“What kind of holiday is this, fuck? An amazing holiday—Russia Day. And what, are you proud of something or what? What are you proud of, fuck? That you live with almost nothing to your name? That you have to kill people so you can buy yourself cars and flats, fuck, and drink like it’s your last day, and wear those fucking medals. Your medals today are a mark for life, a brand for life, that you’re fucking murderers. <…> If all the ‘special operation’ guys die tomorrow, I’ll drink some wine.”

After this, activists from the pro-government “People’s Call” movement reported her to the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General’s Office. Makhmutova soon posted an apology video, saying she was not ready to lose her child, crying, and trying to cut her wrists.

On 13 June, security officials came to her home. She refused to open the door and threatened to harm herself. In the end, Emergency Ministry employees forced open the door and detained Makhmutova. According to the security officials, on the way to the police station she tried to run away several times. After her detention, when a female investigator asked whether she was ready to apologise, the woman replied: “No, I’ve got nothing to apologise for.”

In Kemerovo region, a court fined a resident of Kiselevsk 10,000 roubles (approx. US$115) under the offence of inciting hatred (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Offences Code) for negative comments about police officers on VKontakte. This was reported by the “Kuzbass Without Extremism” Telegram channel, which is linked to law enforcement authorities.

The channel published one of the comments that triggered the fine: “Our f***ing police know only how to lock people up for games! That’s it! They’re good for nothing else! A bastard country with bastard laws, courts, and police! And the bunker-dweller is the same.”

The same court fined the man an additional 30,000 roubles (approx. US$345) under the offence of calling for sanctions against Russia (Article 20.3.4 of the Administrative Offences Code). In this instance, the protocol was issued because of his comment under news about US President Joe Biden’s team considering Russia one of the main threats to the United States. “For f**k’s sake, just recognise it already!!!!!!! Impose sanctions!!!!!! Come on Biden, please!!!!!!” the man wrote.

The court issued both decisions on 17 June.

For “inciting hatred” against “Russian colonisers,” 65-year-old Magni­togorsk resident Zilya Ramazanova has been fined 10,000 roubles (US$110). The decision of the Leninsky district court, dated 29 April this year, was noted by the SOVA analytical centre.

The court claims that in February this year, the woman posted the following comment in the “Slavic People” community on VKontakte: “Russian colonisers, when seizing the lands of indigenous non-Russian peoples, also raped, killed, burned people alive. Fascists.” The court ruled that this was “a negative judgement against a group of people united by race, nationality, and the descriptor ‘Russian colonisers.’”

In court, the woman pleaded guilty and confirmed that she had posted the comment. She stated that she “intended to draw attention to historical facts that happened in the past.”

The court fined Ramazanova under the article for inciting hatred or enmity (Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). She has filed an appeal against the court’s decision.

On 16 June, the Kanavinsky District Court in Nizhny Novgorod fined activist Gleb Kalinychev 35,000 roubles (approx. US$380) under the article on “discrediting” the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by the “Nizhny Novgorod Political Red Cross.”

The activist, who had previously been convicted in the FBK donation case, was issued the protocol on 7 May when they came to the police station to check in because of their suspended sentence. They were charged over an anti-war post published on 24 February 2022.

In August 2024, a court in Nizhny Novgorod gave Kalinychev a four-year suspended sentence for financing extremism (Part 1, Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code). According to law enforcement, they transferred 1,899 roubles (approx. US$21) to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Kalinychev had been held in pretrial detention from September 2023 until the verdict was announced.

The Yeltsin Centre has cancelled a lecture by Nikolay Nakhshunov, a lecturer at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (Shaninka), due to a post in the “UralLive” channel, which is linked to the Urals team of propagandist Vladimir Solovyov. This was reported by It’s My City.

According to journalists, the lecture was intended to discuss the philosophy of Deleuze, psychoanalysis, and their connection to modern social theories.

Nakhshunov’s lecture, planned for 17 June at the Yeltsin Centre, was cancelled after a post appeared in the “UralLive” Telegram channel, part of a media network associated with Vladimir Solovyov. The post claimed that Nakhshunov collaborates with organisations supporting the queer community.

After this publication was released, calls to cancel the event began to circulate on social media. Several hours later, the Yeltsin Centre announced that the lecture was cancelled.

In April, the Yeltsin Centre removed director Vladimir Mirzoev’s play “I Killed the Tsar” from its schedule, and in February a meeting with poet German Lukomnikov was disrupted. According to “UralLive” and the “Russian Community,” they allegedly hold anti-Russian views. In May, it became known that a lecture by philosophy populariser Dmitry Khaustov would not take place.

The Kuibyshev District Court in St Petersburg has fined Elena Orlova, director of the “Podpisnye Izdaniya” bookshop, 20,000 roubles (approx. US$220) for the sale of a single book. This was reported by a Mediazona correspondent from the courtroom.

Orlova was charged under the article on cooperation with an “undesirable organisation” (Article 20.33 of the Russian Administrative Code). The reason for the fine was the sale of Igor Olinevich’s book “Going to Magadan.” Police and the court decided that the book was published with the support of the Belarusian Anarchist Black Cross, which has been designated “undesirable” in Russia.

At the end of May, “Podpisnye Izdaniya” bookshop was also fined 800,000 roubles (approx. US$8,750) under the article on “LGBT propaganda” (Part 1, Article 6.21 of the Russian Administrative Code).

The Leninsky District Court of Sevastopol fined a 19-year-old student of a local college 49,000 roubles (US$540) under the article on “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The local Ministry of Internal Affairs reported this.

A magistrate judge also fined the young person 50,000 roubles (US$550) under the article on “LGBT propaganda” (Article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

The charges were brought in connection with comments made in a Telegram chat, where the student asked for a petition to be created, addressed to the President of Ukraine, proposing the establishment of a reservation for residents of temporarily occupied territories until liberation, as well as a message from a humorous Telegram bot that determined he was 72 per cent homosexual.

The case against the student was handled by officers from the Sevastopol department of the Centre for Combating Extremism together with the regional FSB office.

The Zheleznodorozhny District Court in Ryazan sentenced local resident Andrey Vasilenko to 10 days of administrative detention. The reason for this was a pro-Ukrainian slogan. The court decision dated 6 June was noticed by the “7×7” news outlet.

According to the court, on 4 June, the man shouted the slogan “Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists” in the courtyard of a residential building. The only slogan of this organisation, according to the Justice Ministry, is the phrase “Glory to Ukraine—glory to the heroes.”

The court’s press service stated that Vasilenko is a citizen of Ukraine. He did not admit guilt in the case, saying he had shouted the slogan while drunk and “was not aware of his actions.”

The court found the man guilty of promoting prohibited symbols (part 1 of article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

A 21-year-old resident of Shebekino, Igor Sh., has been fined one thousand roubles (about US$11) by the court over memes about the “Belgorod People’s Republic.” This was reported by the “Ashes of Belgorod” Telegram channel.

The young man posted the images on Telegram back at the start of the war, on 8 April 2022. One image showed a blue-and-white flag with the coat of arms of Belgorod region superimposed. The coat of arms was placed within part of the large coat of arms of Ukraine.

The second image was of the “BNR” flag, which was a Ukrainian flag with a black stripe at the bottom. In the middle was the coat of arms of Belgorod region, with the caption “прапор” (Ukrainian for “flag”).

A protocol was drawn up against Igor Sh. under the article on public demonstration of banned symbols (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). In court, the Shebekino resident admitted guilt and said he posted the “BNR” memes because after the war started, he “became interested in the 'Belgorod People’s Republic' movement.”

He also explained that he did not delete the images after the “BNR movement” was labelled a terrorist organisation, because he forgot he had ever posted them.

At the end of 2024, the Supreme Court of Russia declared the “Forum of Free States of post-Russia” and the non-existent “BNR movement” as a “structural subdivision” of the “Forum” to be terrorist organisations.

The “BNR” meme (by analogy with “DNR” and “LNR”) originated after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

The Yandex.Books service has removed the book “Outbreak. The Unknown History of HIV in the USSR” by Irina Roldugina and Katerina Suverina from its website. The publication Parni+ drew attention to this.

The book tells the story of the spread of HIV in the Soviet Union and the public’s reaction to it. It also features testimonies from eyewitnesses and publications from that time.

The book was published by Individuum, whose staff have been accused of “extremist” activity due to “promoting the activities of the LGBT movement” in books released by the publisher.

A case has been opened against Olesya Mavletkina, a resident of Kursk region (western Russia), under the charge of calling for violations of Russia’s territorial integrity (Part 2, Article 20.3.2 of the Administrative Code). The case was submitted to the Khomutovsky District Court on 9 June, as also reported by the united press service of the courts of the Kursk region.

The reason for prosecution was a post containing an image and the caption “New map of Ukraine,” published by Mavletkina on 21 June 2024. “This image illustrates the alienation of part of the territory of the Russian Federation in favour of Ukraine and is extremist in nature,” the press service clarified. OVD-Info was unable to locate the image itself.

The online cinema service “Ivi” has removed the film “The Collapse of the World,” in which the plot involves Vladimir Putin dying. This was reported by film critic Timur Aliyev and noted by SOTA.

“It’s a shame, of course. It was the only way to legally access the original audio track, rather than watching the dubbed version,” Aliyev commented.

“Ivi” was the only major Russian streaming platform that had not censored the scene featuring a news broadcast about a new fever, SOTA observes. The episode shows footage from Russia, and behind the news anchor the hashtag #PutinDead and the headline “What has happened to Putin?” are visible.

A protocol for “discrediting” the Russian army (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code) has been drawn up against Eduard Goida, a Moscow resident. The channel “Ostorozhno, novosti” (“Caution, news”) reported this.

Exactly what the 58-year-old engineer is accused of remains unknown. A hearing for his case has been scheduled for late June at the Tushinsky District Court in Moscow.

Speaking to a journalist, the man said that the protocol was prompted by a “conversation on the street.” However, he did not specify what the conversation was about and declined to provide details of the case until the court hearing.

In Kemerovo region, a resident of Anzhero-Sudzhensk, a city in Siberia, has been fined 10,000 roubles (approx. US$110) over a comment about Russian soldiers. This was reported by the Telegram channel “Kuzbass Without Extremism,” which is linked to law enforcement.

The man was found guilty of inciting hatred (Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

“In Sergey’s comments, law enforcement identified statements which negatively assessed a group of people united by their belonging to the servicemembers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” the channel wrote.

They did not quote the statement that led to the charges, but published a screenshot of Sergey’s comment: “Well, it’s only right—Shoigu’s looters are dropping like flies.”

On 7 June, “Kuzbass Without Extremism” reported that the same man had also been fined 15,000 roubles (approx. US$165) under the article on “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

“[Sergey], in one of the social networks, made negative remarks in comments on various posts regarding the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, calling participants in the special military operation ‘fascists,’ ‘fertiliser,’ and ‘cannon fodder,’” the channel wrote.

The decision was made back in April, but the court ruling was only published on 10 June. The media outlet “Idel.Realii” reported this.

According to the court ruling, a link to the “Heftsiba” educational programme on the Sokhnut agency’s website, which works on repatriation to Israel, was posted on the website of School No. 12, which people in Kazan call the “Jewish school.” The link led to the Russian-language version of the site.

Prosecutors drew up the protocol against Kozlovskaya because the English-language version of the site had a “Help Jews in Ukraine” section about assistance for Jews in Ukraine, which mentioned the war and ways to help people in Ukraine.

The prosecution considered the following passages to constitute army discreditation:

“Russia attacked several Ukrainian cities from the air and Russian ground troops entered Ukraine from several directions. The war is ongoing, with hundreds of civilians killed and millions fleeing for their lives. From the start of the war, the Jewish Agency has been on the front line, saving Jews from Ukraine, with staff on the ground, many of whom are risking their lives to rescue the Jewish national community.”

“While the war continues, the Jews of Ukraine are desperately in need of our help. The Jewish Agency is working on the ground to help Ukrainian Jews who wish to quickly and safely make aliyah to Israel, as well as supporting and protecting members of the local Ukrainian Jewish community who have chosen to stay. But we need your support. Donate today; every dollar helps Ukrainian Jews in this unimaginable crisis.”

Discreditation was also found in a video featuring Ukrainian refugees (spelling as in the court’s ruling): “We lived in Kyiv before the war and worked… And now for the second time we are fleeing from the Russian war… We travelled for more than 2 weeks trying to find a place because all cities were taking in people from central and eastern Ukraine. We slept in the bathroom or in the corridor… For the first time we were able to sleep well, you know, not wandering anywhere, not hearing any sirens.”

Kozlovskaya did not admit guilt. She said she had not posted these materials, and pointed out that the content in question was in other sections and in the English-language version of the website. Judge Artur Kiselev judged this argument “untenable.”

The same link also became the basis for a second protocol against the school’s director, accusing her of inciting hatred (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Offences Code), and she was fined 17,000 rubles (about US$190). The ruling quotes an expert’s opinion that the same passages show “certain indirect linguistic signs of inciting enmity” towards Russians.

Kozlovskaya has appealed both rulings. The appeal is scheduled to be heard on 25 June.

The link that triggered the prosecution was posted in the “International Cooperation” section. That section is now empty on the school website.

The Butyrsky District Court in Moscow fined student Arina Kalita 30,000 roubles (approximately US$330) under the article on “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). This was reported by the press service of Moscow’s courts of general jurisdiction, and the ruling is available on the court’s website.

Kalita is a third-year student at the MPGU college, specialising as a primary school teacher. In December 2024, she had an argument with a fellow student in their group chat on VKontakte called “Friendly Armenians 32u.” Kalita wrote a message about “a young man who is currently in the area of the special military operation.” Her classmate replied that “the FSB is very good at dealing with such statements about the military.” The classmate later published screenshots of their conversation.

Kalita stated that she was joking and had “apologised” to the young man she mentioned in the messages.

An “man in women’s clothing” from Yakutsk (a city in Russia’s Far East) has been fined 50,000 rubles (approximately US$560) under the “LGBT propaganda” law (part 1 of article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by the local Interior Ministry.

According to law enforcement, the “offender, while intoxicated, applied makeup in a demonstrative manner, used foul language, harassed passersby and behaved provocatively in public places.” As a result, they also drew up reports under the articles on minor hooliganism (part 1 of article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and being drunk in public (article 20.21).

A protocol has been drawn up against the Moscow bookshop Falanster for alleged “LGBT propaganda” (Part 1, Article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by Mediazona, which found the case record on the website of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow.

The reason for the protocol is unknown. Under this article, legal entities face a fine of between 800,000 and one million roubles (approximately US$8,900 to US$11,100) or administrative suspension of activities for up to 90 days.

In addition, Mediazona discovered that the court has registered a new protocol under the article on participation in the activities of an “undesirable organisation” (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences) against Boris Kupriyanov, a co-founder of Falanster.

Both cases will be heard in the morning on 18 July.

At the end of May, the court already imposed fines on both the bookshop and Kupriyanov under protocols on “undesirable organisations.” Falanster was fined 80,000 roubles (about US$900), and its co-founder was fined 40,000 roubles (about US$450).

The case concerned a book by anarchist and political prisoner from Belarus, Ihar Alinevich, about his time in the KGB pre-trial detention centre in Minsk. Security officials decided it was published with support from the “Anarchist Black Cross Federation,” which has been declared an “undesirable organisation” in Russia. Kupriyanov did not admit guilt—he explained that this is a second-hand book and that two copies had been brought into the shop. Falanster, he stressed, was not involved in the activities of said anarchist organisation and did not communicate with its representatives.

Additionally, in February, Falanster cancelled a presentation of a book about anti-fascism after denunciations from pro-government activists, and in March, prosecutors visited the shop for an inspection and seized several books, including works by Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, and Susan Sontag.

The date of the hearings has been corrected.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court has overturned a fine of 40,000 rubles (about US$440) that was imposed in May on architect Polina Ivanova under the article on “discrediting the army” (part 1, article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). This was reported by Mediazona.

The media outlet 66.ru writes that the formal reason for overturning the fine is as follows: the case should have been considered not by the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg, but by the Verkh-Isetsky District Court. Now the case will be re-examined in the Verkh-Isetsky court.

Ivanova was detained for the protocol on 30 April. The reason was her anti-war post on Facebook, published in February 2022.

Due to the detention, the architect had to cancel a lecture about the history of Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, that was planned for the same day.

Two weeks earlier, the Piotrovsky bookshop cancelled the launch of Ivanova’s book, “Guidebook to Sverdlovsk and Yekaterinburg.” This happened following a post by the pro-government channel UralLive, which was shared by the right-wing group Russian Community. The propagandists drew attention to the event announcement and began criticising Ivanova for her anti-war stance and for cooperating with the brother of Leonid Volkov.

The Tagansky District Court in Moscow has fined Apple six million roubles (approximately US$67,000) under two charges related to “LGBT propaganda” (part 3, article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by “Ostorozhno, novosti.”

The reasons for the charges remain unknown, as the company requested that the hearings be held behind closed doors, according to RIA Novosti. The company’s lawyer stated that “confidential data relating to the operation of services, ‘very sensitive’ internal communications within Apple, and official documents” would be mentioned during the session.

In May, Apple was also given three more fines totalling 7.5 million roubles (approximately US$84,000) on similar charges.

The Izmailovsky District Court in Moscow has sentenced a man to three days' detention over an “A.C.A.B” tattoo on his neck. The court’s ruling was highlighted by the outlet 'Ostorozhno, novosti'.

On 9 June, the court found Kuvonchbek Ruziboev guilty of displaying banned symbols (Part 1, Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

The ruling states that on the morning of 6 June, officers from Centre “E” stopped Ruziboev for a document check.

“[Ruziboev] engaged in the public display of extremist symbols on the right side of his neck with an 'A.C.A.B.' inscription (from English: All Cops Are Bastards), which translates as ‘All police are bastards’ or ‘All police are scum,’ included in the official list of prohibited symbols,” states the court document.

However, neither the phrase nor the abbreviation are included in the federal list of extremist materials.

In court, the man admitted guilt and said he did not know the meaning of his tattoo—it was chosen by the tattoo artist. He also promised to have it removed.

“After officers from the Centre for Combating Extremism explained the meaning of the tattoo, he decided to have it removed; however, he has not yet done so, nor has he covered the neck area, and continues to display the tattoo in public,” the court resolution says.

Last spring, left-wing activist Alexei Shichkov was detained for ten days over a photo showing the numbers 1312, which stand for ACAB, drawn on a wall. At the time, the court ruled that the numbers 1312 incited hatred (Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

The protocol against the activist was drawn up at the end of May by a staff member of Centre “E.” They found a comment in the Telegram chat “DTP 18+ Chat,” dated 25 August 2024, which, according to law enforcement, belongs to Chepanov. The comment was in response to another user’s statement that: “the special military operation is a special military operation with a limited contingent” and, “if it were a war, you’d also be in the ranks and wouldn’t be earning 200,000 as a contractor.”

The text by the user with the nickname Alex, attributed to Chepanov, said: “So we attacked a neighbouring country with weapons, kill its citizens, occupy its territory, and this isn’t a war? Are you in your right mind at all?”

According to the findings of a linguistic expert report compiled on this comment (available to OVD-Info), the actions of the Russian Armed Forces are “characterised as violent, aggressive, hostile, involving the killing of civilians.”

The hearing on Chepanov’s case was scheduled for 23 June in the Central District Court of Khabarovsk, a major city in the Russian Far East.

8 July The Central Court of Khabarovsk fined Alexander Chepanov 30,000 roubles (approximately US$320). This was reported by his OVD-Info legal representative, Vladimir Zhilkin.

He noted that the authorities did not find any witnesses who could confirm that the account with the nickname Alex belonged to Chepanov, nor did they inspect his phone.

“The FSB just knows everything. They didn’t make any request to Telegram. We did, but the court didn’t wait for a response from Telegram with data on whether the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the FSB had made any requests regarding Alexander,” said Vladimir Zhilkin.

In Moscow, Georgiy P. has been arrested for 10 days over a video in which he says: “I fucking respect the police, but we fuck the cops in the mouth.” The channel “Ostorozhno, Moskva” (“Careful, Moscow”) drew attention to this.

According to the channel, the video featuring the Moscow resident was filmed back in early March and spread on Telegram. Law enforcement officers drew up a report against the man for incitement of hatred or enmity (Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

In court, Georgiy P. explained his words by saying he was “very drunk.” In early June, he was sent to a special detention centre.

Due to an erotic photo of a woman in the uniform of the German Nazi armed forces, Andrey O. from Kemerovo was fined one thousand roubles (approx. US$11). This was reported by the law enforcement-linked channel “Kuzbass Without Extremism.”

According to the channel, the man uploaded the photo—depicting a woman against a backdrop of a swastika—to his VKontakte page back in 2018. Nearly seven years later, it was discovered by law enforcement officers.

The Kemerovo resident had an administrative protocol drawn up against him under the article on the display of Nazi symbols (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), and the court fined him under that article.

The screening of Nikolai Solodnikov’s film “You Cried Bitterly in Your Sleep,” starring Ivan Urgant, was cancelled at the “Literature and Cinema” festival in Gatchina, a town near St Petersburg. The “Film Distributor’s Bulletin” drew attention to this report.

Prior to this, the public movement “The Call of the People” sent an appeal to the Ministry of Culture demanding the screening be cancelled. The activists noted that Solodnikov and Urgant hold “anti-patriotic and anti-Russian” views. Both cultural figures declined to support the war in Ukraine and have criticised the Russian authorities. “The Call of the People” also pointed to their “connections with individuals declared foreign agents”: Solodnikov’s wife, journalist Ekaterina Gordeeva, is included in this list.

Earlier, the film was not issued a distribution certificate.

A raid took place at the “Three Monkeys” club in Moscow. This was reported by the Telegram channel “Ostorozhno, Novosti” (“Caution, News”).

The police and OMON riot police entered the venue. The raid, according to “Ostorozhno, Novosti,” may be connected to “the fight against LGBT propaganda or the distribution of substances.”

The Telegram channel quotes eyewitnesses: “Everything happened spontaneously. Everyone was forced face down on the floor, searched for prohibited substances, and some people were injured by cuts from broken glass. An ambulance crew and several police vehicles arrived on the scene.”

On 9 April, the Kirovsky District Court in Saratov fined 68-year-old Alexander Chernenko, a native of Ukraine who is a Russian citizen, two thousand roubles (approx. US$22) over the Ukrainian coat of arms in the form of a trident. This was reported by the outlet Idel.Realii.

The man was found guilty under the article on public display of extremist symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). The protocol against Chernenko was drawn up after police found on his Odnoklassniki page a photo in which the elderly man was sitting at a table in a black T-shirt with the image of a Ukrainian trident and the words “Моя Украiна” (“My Ukraine”).

In April, the same court fined Chernenko 30,000 roubles (approx. US$330) under the article on discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). The reason for the fine was a repost on Odnoklassniki that “contained information discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” The content of the post remains unknown.

St Petersburg activist Darya Kozyreva has been fined 40,500 roubles (US$450) under the article on “discrediting the army” (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by the project “A Word for the Defence” and “Mediazona”.

The Petrogradsky District Court handed down the fine today. The case was initiated due to Kozyreva’s final statement before sentencing in her criminal case for “discrediting” the army (part 1 of article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). At that time, she was sentenced to two years and eight months in a penal colony.

The administrative case was based on almost her entire speech in court, except for her recitation of Taras Shevchenko’s poetry. At the end of her statement, in particular, she said: “I dream, of course, that Ukraine will regain every inch of its land, including Donbas and Crimea. I believe that one day my dream will come true. One day history will judge everything fairly. But Ukraine has already won. Won already. That’s all.”

Darya Kozyreva’s lawyer, Rafail Polyakov, told the court that the protocol drafted against his client was an act of pressure on her, as the right to express one’s opinion in a final statement is guaranteed by the Constitution.

The activist herself said she was not given the opportunity to review the case materials, called the protocol a violation of her right to a defence, and noted that “even murderers” are not prosecuted for words spoken in a final statement.

In Moscow, a SOTAvision correspondent who was filming Navalny’s grave was detained and has since been released. The outlet itself reported this.

The journalist was detained in the entranceway of their own apartment building. They were taken to a police station and then released after being issued a summons to appear for drawing up a protocol under the article on participation in the activities of an “undesirable” organisation.

Law enforcement officers seized and reviewed the detainee’s phone. According to them, the police were searching for connections with the Telegram channel “Sirena” created by Navalny’s associates, “but found nothing and were very disappointed.”

The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Ulyanovsk has closed the administrative case concerning the sale of a “foreign agent’s” book on the Wildberries marketplace without proper labelling. This was reported by Mediazona.

The protocol had been filed against Artem Karabanov, owner of the BookMart online bookstore, which operates on the platform. The reason was the sale of the novel “Russen, komm!” by writer Elizaveta Alexandrova-Zorina. She was added to the “foreign agents” register in February.

The administrative article on failure to comply with the law on “foreign agents” (Part 42, Article 19.5 of the Code of Administrative Offences), with which the bookseller was charged, requires the Ministry of Justice to first send a warning to anyone mentioning a “foreign agent” online without noting their status. If this is not corrected in time, the person faces administrative responsibility, Mediazona notes.

It turned out the Ministry of Justice confused the surname and sent the notice about the protocol not to “Karabanov A.I.” but to “Kabanov A.I.” “There is no other evidence in the case materials that Karabanov was properly and promptly notified <…>,” the judge added.

Although there is still no mention of Alexandrova-Zorina’s “foreign agent” status on the product page, the judge ruled that there was no offence committed and closed the case.

The Vakhitovsky District Court in Kazan has sentenced local resident Ruslan Tavdiryakov to 10 days in detention over a social media post comparing nationalists taking part in a religious procession to participants in the riot at Makhachkala airport. The SOVA Research Centre drew attention to the court’s decision in its report.

Tavdiryakov was found guilty under the administrative offence of inciting hatred or enmity (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Code). He admitted his guilt.

According to the court ruling, Tavdiryakov posted a video on his Telegram channel showing a religious procession in honour of the transfer of the relics of Alexander Nevsky, during which the slogan “Russians forward!” can be heard being chanted.

He wrote in the accompanying comment: “Interesting! Will these lads who turned the procession in the Northern Capital into a chauvinistic ‘Russian March,’ humiliating the national and religious feelings of millions of non-Russian and non-Orthodox citizens of our Country, receive proper condemnation and exemplary punishments, just like the young people who acted on emotion (and their moderators) at Makhachkala Airport? After all, it’s the same article! Or is this something different?”

Representatives of the prosecutor’s office sent the text for linguistic analysis, which found that the materials contained evidence of:

—incitement to hatred or enmity towards the group “Russians, Orthodox believers”;

—negative assessment of the group “Russians, Orthodox believers”;

—derogatory statements regarding the group “Russians, Orthodox believers”;

—fomenting enmity or hatred towards one group distinguished by national and religious identity, as compared with another group distinguished by national and religious identity.

On the day of the protest, Novikov was fined twice for a total of 80,000 roubles (about US$900) for previous anti-war pickets. On those occasions, he was accused of “discrediting the Russian army” (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for holding posters with photos of destroyed Ukrainian cities and portraits of residents of the Urals killed in the war.

After the court sessions, Novikov decided to hold a picket directly opposite the courthouse. He was then detained and taken to the security room, but was released shortly afterwards.

The Ostrovsky City Court in Pskov region has sentenced activist Roman Ladyshchenko to seven days' arrest and fined him a total of 41,500 roubles (approximately US$460) on three charges: displaying prohibited symbols (Article 20.3, Part 1 of the Administrative Code) and “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3, Part 1 of the Administrative Code), Mediazona reported.

He was arrested on 25 May for a VKontakte post featuring the symbols of FBK; the following day, he was fined 40,000 roubles (approximately US$445) for an anti-war post on the same social network, and on 30 May was handed a further fine of 1,500 roubles (approximately US$17), again for showing FBK symbols.

Ladyshchenko is an electrical engineer and has taken part in local elections as a candidate from the Pskov branch of the Yabloko party and the Open Russia movement. In 2018, he was charged with promoting Nazi symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code) over the “HitlerVsPutin” video he posted on VKontakte, but the court declined to consider the materials due to errors in their preparation.

A resident of Tula, who walked past the local parade on 9 May wearing a T-shirt with a crossed-out Z and the slogan “Peace to the world, no to war,” was fined 45,000 rubles (approximately US$500). This was reported by the law enforcement-affiliated channel “Tula. ExtremiZm.”

The channel refers to the fined man as “Grandpa Nikolai.” The website of the Tula Central District Court features a court record for the case of “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) against Nikolai Dmitruk, with a verdict given on 10 May.

The Yakutsk City Court has decided not to impose any punishment on Denis Adamov, editor-in-chief of the publication Yakutia.Info, over a post made 11 years ago. The court’s ruling was highlighted by Mediazona.

In April, it became known that Adamov had been handed five protocols at once under the article for participation in the activities of an “undesirable” organisation (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

The basis for one of the protocols was a publication by Yakutia.Info, based on reporting from Dozhd (TV Rain), which was posted in October 2014. The post has since been deleted. It discussed the alleged resignation of Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

The judge noted that “formally, the elements of an administrative offence are present.” However, they decided not to impose a fine, issuing only an oral warning. The official pointed out that the publication had been made long before Dozhd was declared “undesirable” in 2023.

St Petersburg activist Darya Kozyreva has been charged with “discrediting the army” (part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code) because of her final statement delivered before her sentence was announced, as well as remarks made at the same hearing. This was reported by the St Petersburg courts’ press service.

“According to the record, on 18 April 2025, Kozyreva was given the floor at the court hearing, and in that statement she herself gave grounds for part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code of the Russian Federation. In her final statement, Kozyreva again made remarks regarding the war, occupation and so on,” reads the press service’s statement.

The administrative case materials will soon be forwarded to a judge.

In April, Kozyreva was convicted under a criminal case for a repeat offence of “discrediting the army” (part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). She was sentenced to two years and eight months in a penal colony. The reason for her criminal prosecution was her anti-war protest and an interview in which she described the war in Ukraine as “monstrous” and “criminal.”

In her final statement, she said that Putin had started the war, Russia had seized Ukrainian territories, and she referred to Russian soldiers as occupiers.

The Kirovsky District Court of Omsk banned memes depicting Vladimir Putin as Adolf Hitler. The decision was reported by Verstka.

On 7 May, the court considered a claim from the prosecutor of Omsk’s Kirovsky Administrative District, who requested a ban on spreading 12 links.

At least five of these links contain memes showing Putin with the hairstyle and moustache worn by Hitler. Many of the memes were accompanied by the caption “Putler Kaput.” Some of the pages also included photographs from protest actions, where participants brought placards with such images of the Russian president.

Another link leads to a post on the 9GAG platform showing Putin as a detainee holding a board with his name and the phrase “A War Criminal.” Another link points to a page on Stikhi.ru depicting Putin holding a pistol to his head, with the caption: “How to save Russia from shame?”

The ban also covers a post on LiveJournal featuring a fictional cover of the magazine “Krokodil” with a photo of Putin and the caption: “A court has started to consider the case on its merits. The being stated that it was not guilty.”

The prosecutor further sought to prohibit a page on Fishki.net with a photo from a 2014 protest in Moscow in support of Ukraine, due to a placard reading: “Putin’s aggression against Ukraine is directed against Russia and Europe.”

The prosecutor justified the claim by saying these images and captions discredit Putin. The judge also stated that they insult his honour and dignity.

Two scientists who spoke out against the war were not elected as full members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), reports T-Invariant.

In the elections, which concluded on 29 May, two corresponding members of RAS were not confirmed as full academicians: linguistics professor at Ural Federal University Elena Berezovich and Director of the Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of RAS Fyodor Uspensky. Both had signed an open letter by scientists in 2022 against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the RAS charter, a candidate needs to receive more than half of all academicians’ votes—there are about 780 of them. Berezovich received votes from 351 academicians; 173 voted against, and 33 abstained. Uspensky received 352 votes in favour, 171 against, and 34 abstentions.

The publication notes that before the vote, academician Valery Kashin addressed the audience. Kashin is the General Designer of the Scientific-Production Corporation “Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering,” one of Russia’s leading centres for military technology.

“Academician candidates Elena Berezovich and Fyodor Uspensky signed an open letter in support of Ukraine and against the Special Military Operation in 2022. Three years have passed. We can all see what is happening to the Russian language and literature in Ukraine. Berezovich is the head of a Russian language department; Uspensky is an institute director. They ought to respond somehow—have they changed their position or remained where they stood? At least, in the open press, I have not seen anything of the sort,” said Kashin.

“This call for Berezovich and Uspensky to comment on their position was supported by the head of the RAS medical division,” a T-Invariant source among RAS members said. This division is headed by academician Vladimir Starodubov.

Academician-Secretary of the Division of Historical and Philological Sciences of RAS Nikolay Makarov replied to Kashin that he was confident Berezovich and Uspensky had changed their stance, and that his division’s position was well known, since he himself “was probably the first humanities scholar to visit the liberated territories.” He added that his division actively supports Russian military personnel.

T-Invariant writes that during this discussion, Berezovich and Uspensky were probably not in the hall—the RAS president and other leaders tried to call for them over the microphone. Makarov’s speech in defence of the scientists was met with applause from the audience.

At the same time, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov was elected as an academician of RAS. Azarov resigned in January 2014 during the Maidan protests against the government of Viktor Yanukovych and soon left the country. T-Invariant describes this as a precedent, as it is the first time a person with a Hirsch index of zero has become a full member of RAS. Azarov received 527 votes in favour, 14 against, and 15 abstentions.

The Tagansky District Court in Moscow has fined Telegram 4 million roubles (approximately US$44,000) for failing to remove queer channels (under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code), reported TASS.

The press release refers to “10 channels dedicated to same-sex sexual relationships” found by Roskomnadzor staff, which they had first demanded be deleted; when this was unsuccessful, they drew up a report.

12:21 “Mediazona” drew attention to the decision published by the Tagansky court.

The document lists links to projects which, according to Roskomnadzor, “promote non-traditional sexual relationships, paedophilia, and gender transition.” These include the channels of the Sphere Foundation, which provides assistance to LGBTQ+ people; the European human rights organisation EQUAL PostOst; and sex educator and queer activist Sasha Kazantseva.

The decision also states that Telegram did not remove channels where calls for unauthorised mass events were published. Among those named in the document are the channels of the Bashkort unit, fighting on the side of Ukraine, and activists from Bashkortostan (a republic in the Urals), as well as the “FSB Boutique” channel.

The Proletarsky District Court in Tula has fined 34-year-old Nikolai 30,000 roubles (approximately US$330) under the law on “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), reports the “Tula. Extremism” channel, which is linked to law enforcement.

The prosecution was prompted by the poem “Dedicated to Z-idiots,” which was posted on Telegram. The poem tells the story of young people who drink alcohol and argue with their mothers about politics, then go to fight in Ukraine and are killed.

The Primorsky District Court of St Petersburg has, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, banned the song “Cooperative Swan Lake” by Noize MC, reports Darya Lebedeva, head of the city’s unified press service for the courts.

The ruling prohibits the distribution of links to the track on YouTube and on the website noizemc.com.

The decision is based on the findings of an expert who identified in the song “signs of justification and endorsement of the need for hostile, hateful attitudes towards people, as well as statements promoting violent changes to the foundations of the constitutional order.”

“[The track] is full of obscene language, forms a negative attitude towards representatives of state authorities and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, is harmful to minors, and may damage the moral and ethical development of children,” Lebedeva relays as the expert’s conclusions.

The expert also found in the song’s lyrics signs of discrediting the authorities and the Russian military.

In March, the service Yandex.Music, at the request of Roskomnadzor, removed “Cooperative Swan Lake” and several other tracks from Noize MC’s new album “Not All at Home” from its library. At the time, the group “Roskomsvoboda” observed that the deleted songs had appeared on the register of banned websites. Roskomnadzor stated that these tracks were distributing “unreliable information of public significance.”

In early May, the same songs were blocked for Russian residents by the streaming services Apple and SoundCloud.

Kira Belaya, an activist from Magnitogorsk, was fined 2,000 roubles (approx. US$22) because of an emoji in her Telegram nickname featuring the cover of a Pink Floyd album. She was accused of displaying extremist symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). Kira Belaya told this to Mediazona.

The case against the activist was initiated over an emoji showing the convergence of light, when a rainbow passes through a prism and forms a single ray. According to Belaya, on 17 May she travelled to the village of Askarovo in Bashkortostan, where a hearing was due to take place on the construction of a mining and processing plant. Local residents are opposed to the project.

She was not allowed in to the hearing, but officers took her documents for inspection. The very next day, police came to see her in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in the Urals. They took Belaya to the police station, where a report was written up.

At the 20 May court hearing, Belaya argued that the drawing of a triangle with a flag refers to the cover of the album Dark Side of the Moon and “is not identical to LGBT symbols.”

The judge, however, considered Belaya’s arguments to be simply a “defence strategy” and stated that the emoji could be “identified with the symbols of the LGBT movement, which is banned in the Russian Federation.”

In her appeal against the decision of the Abzelilovsky District Court of Bashkortostan, she pointed out that she “has no connection to the LGBT movement,” “does not share” its ideology, and is in a relationship with a man, with whom she is raising a child.

The young woman was detained and taken to the police station for the protocol to be drawn up in mid-April when she went out with a “No to war!” sign to the “Nebo” shopping centre.

Students at Saratov Cossack School No. 43 have been written up for holding a “ceremonial handover of the toilet” to younger children to the tune of criminal underworld songs. This was reported by the Saratov prosecutor’s office and local media outlets.

The “ceremonial handover of the toilet” took place on 20 May. “Along with the toilet, you get the criminal code of conduct,” one of the cadets can be heard saying in a video. After this, the students announced the rules: “No pissing, no shitting. […] Basically, you can’t do anything except smoke.”

The prosecutor’s office clarified that the cadets “shouted phrases promoting an organisation whose activities are banned.” The reference is likely to the “AUE” movement, which has been declared “extremist” in Russia.

“Protocols for administrative offences have been drawn up for participants who are of the age of legal responsibility and their legal guardians, and the review of these cases is being monitored,” the agency reports.

A statement from the local education department described the incident as “bordering on a violation of moral and ethical standards.” Meetings were held with the students and their parents. “The Council of Commanders and Mentors decided to strip the participants in the video of their Cossack ranks and titles. The deputy headteacher for student affairs, the duty administrator and the teacher on floor duty have each received a reprimand,” the statement said.

A court in Magnitogorsk, a major industrial city in the Urals, has fined photographer Tatyana Gladskikh two thousand roubles (US$22) over a photo with rainbow flags that she published on a stock image website. This was reported by the Baza Telegram channel.

The woman was found guilty under the article concerning the display of extremist organisation symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). Gladskikh was accused over a photo she had published on the American stock photo site Dreamstime.

According to the court ruling, Gladskikh “published a photo where she and another woman are posed against a backdrop of a flag with six rainbow-coloured stripes, wearing bracelets in the same colours on their wrists.” The court claimed that the photographer knows “the rainbow flag is a symbol of the LGBT movement,” which has been designated an extremist organisation in Russia.

Gladskikh admitted her guilt and removed the photo. The case against her was opened in response to a complaint from an unknown person. In Gladskikh’s opinion, the complaint could have come from those who had used her photos without permission and had been held accountable as a result.

“I’ve been working with stock photo agencies for a long time, and when I travel abroad and see my own photos, I’m confident they were purchased. But when I see my photos in Russia, I’m 99 per cent sure they were stolen. That’s why I signed an agreement with a legal firm to protect my rights. For example, there’s a banner with my photo hanging up in our city. I write to the organisation: ‘I’m sure you didn’t purchase it and this is a violation.’ They just tell me to get lost. Then my lawyers take them to court—those who stole my photos get fined. So I think there are quite a few angry people out there. Apparently, they’ve purposefully started searching for photos like this. It’s impossible to stumble on them by accident. They would have had to go to the site, search my profile and enter the exact abbreviation,” Baza quotes Gladskikh as saying.

The Tverskoy District Court in Moscow has fined the “Falanster” bookshop and its founder, Boris Kupriyanov, for selling a single book. This was reported (1, 2) by a Mediazona correspondent from the courtroom.

The bookshop was fined 80,000 roubles (about US$860) under the article on organising the activity of an “undesirable” organisation, and Kupriyanov was fined 40,000 roubles (about US$430) for participating in such activity.

The fines were imposed over the sale of a book by Belarusian anarchist Igor Olinevich, titled “I’m Going to Magadan.” The book was published with support from the “Anarchist Black Cross Federation,” which was declared “undesirable” at the start of 2024. In December last year, a buyer purchased the book, and this became the grounds for prosecution. The shop earned 152 roubles (about US$1.60) from the sale.

Kupriyanov denied guilt. “He said the book was a second-hand title brought into the shop in two copies, that he did not participate in the 'Falanster’ organisation’s activities or communicate with its representatives. The shop received no information from the organisation, nor did it pay them any funds,” Mediazona reports.

Lawyer Aleksandr Aldaev, among other points, noted that the agreement to receive the book was concluded in August 2023, six months before the “Anarchist Black Cross Federation” was labelled as “undesirable.”

• In March, prosecutors came to “Falanster” for an inspection. As publicist Ivan Davydov wrote, security officials seized several books against a receipt, including works by the philosophers Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, and Susan Sontag.
• In February, “Falanster” cancelled a book launch for Kirill Medvedev’s “Antifascism for All. Revised and Expanded” after tip-offs from pro-government activists. The book discusses, among other things, the murders of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova.

Security forces carried out a raid at a party in Kamensk-Uralsky, a city in Sverdlovsk region in the Urals. This was reported by TASS, citing a source within the security services.

“In Kamensk-Uralsky, in the Second Workers’ Settlement, on Second Polevaya Street, in the early hours of Saturday, the ‘Russian Community’ and law enforcement stopped LGBT obscurantism. For an ‘exciting journey into the past’ at a ‘90s-themed’ party, the organisers had invited drag performers,” TASS quoted its source as saying.

In total, security officers detained 26 people. They were released after fingerprinting and inspection. A protocol was drawn up against the “organiser” for “LGBTQ propaganda” (Article 6.21 of the Administrative Offences Code).

The TASS source added that “the issue of initiating a criminal case” under the article on organising the activities of an extremist organisation (Part 1, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) is under consideration.