The Saint Petersburg court on Tuesday handed 18-year-old Diana Loginova (stage name Naoko) a third 13-day jail term after she performed anti-war songs in public. Rights lawyers say prosecutors are using a "jail carousel" of repeated minor charges to keep critics detained. Support videos for Loginova and her band Stoptime have spread on TikTok, and other performers who showed solidarity have also been arrested. Separately, a court in Perm sentenced 20-year-old Yekaterina Romanova to 15 days after an earlier seven-day term.
18‑Year‑Old Street Musician Sentenced to Third Jail Term in Russia Over Anti‑War Songs
The Saint Petersburg court on Tuesday handed 18-year-old Diana Loginova (stage name Naoko) a third 13-day jail term after she performed anti-war songs in public. Rights lawyers say prosecutors are using a "jail carousel" of repeated minor charges to keep critics detained. Support videos for Loginova and her band Stoptime have spread on TikTok, and other performers who showed solidarity have also been arrested. Separately, a court in Perm sentenced 20-year-old Yekaterina Romanova to 15 days after an earlier seven-day term.
04:22 PM, 11/12/2025Conflict
18‑Year‑Old Street Musician Sentenced to Third Jail Term in Russia Over Anti‑War Songs
A Saint Petersburg court on Tuesday sentenced 18-year-old music student Diana Loginova — who performs as Naoko — to a third 13-day jail term after she staged spontaneous street concerts featuring anti-war songs by exiled artists Monetochka and Noize MC.
Under sweeping censorship laws enacted after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, public criticism of the military campaign, President Vladimir Putin or the armed forces is effectively banned. Rights groups say the rules mirror Soviet-era restrictions and have led to thousands of detentions.
Loginova had already served two separate 13-day sentences and was re-arrested and charged with new offences immediately after each release. Human rights lawyers say prosecutors are using a so-called jail "carousel" — a sequence of minor charges designed to keep critics in continuous custody.
In the most recent hearing, a Saint Petersburg judge found Loginova guilty of organising a mass gathering and imposed another 13-day sentence, an AFP correspondent reported from the court. Since her arrest, videos supporting Loginova and her band Stoptime have circulated widely on TikTok, and other young street performers have publicly shown solidarity despite risking fines or imprisonment.
The band's guitarist, Alexander Orlov, was also given an additional 13-day sentence; in court he sat between his lawyer and a masked police officer. Similar detentions followed solidarity performances in other cities: independent outlets reported that a court in Perm sentenced 20-year-old performer Yekaterina Romanova (also known as Yekaterina Ostasheva) to 15 days in jail after an earlier seven-day term.
These cases illustrate a broader crackdown on dissent in Russia, where authorities increasingly use administrative and criminal measures to curb public protest and criticism related to the war in Ukraine.