Russian Federation - November 2025

All members of a St. Petersburg rock band, Stoptime, were sentenced to repeated periods of administrative detention in October and November for performing songs by artists the state considers ‘foreign agents’. The band had performed street concerts for years without permits but had not been threatened with arrest until videos of their performances began to be shared widely on Russian social media. The case marks a new level of restrictions on speech in modern Russia, as the street musicians have neither taken any political stances nor played political songs. It remains unclear what specific actions the state considers sufficient to have warranted this action, and the lack of clarity marks a deepening of an already restricted space for free speech. Diana Loginova, Alexander Orlov and Vladislav Leontiev were first sentenced to 12- or 13-days imprisonment for ‘organizing a rally that causes public disorder,’ and then re-arrested and sentenced on different administrative charges twice more immediately upon exiting the city jail. Criminal charges of ‘discrediting the military’ were filed against all three in November, but on 23 November all three were not subjected to rearrest and successfully traveled to Armenia. 

Sources: Meduza, Mezha, Amnesty International