Russia jails teen musician over anti-war street songs for third time

Lead singer of pop band Stoptime Diana Loginova (centre), who was detained after publicly singing songs by bands known for their opposition to the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, attends court hearings in Saint Petersburg. Photo / Olga Maltseva, AFP

A Russian court today sent an 18-year-old street musician who performed anti-war songs to jail for a third time as the Kremlin mounts a no-limits crackdown on any signs of dissent or opposition.

All public criticism of Moscow’s military offensive on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin or the Army is outlawed under sweeping censorship laws that rights groups have compared to those of the Soviet Union.

Diana Loginova, a music student known by the stage name Naoko, was arrested last month after staging pop-up street concerts reciting songs by exiled Russian artists Monetochka and Noize MC in Saint Petersburg.

The performances went viral, capturing attention at a time when public opposition to the Kremlin and the war in Ukraine is virtually non-existent.

She has already been served two 13-day sentences, being re-arrested and re-charged with new offences immediately after both releases.

Rights lawyers have said the singer is now caught up in jail “carousel”, a practice whereby prosecutors lob a string of minor charges against defendants to keep them in constant custody.

In the latest case, she was found guilty of organising the mass gathering of people and sentenced to another 13 days in prison, an AFP correspondent reported from the St Petersburg court.

Since Loginova’s arrest, a flurry of videos in support of her and her band Stoptime have flooded TikTok, while other young street performers have expressed solidarity with her in public, risking fines or jail sentences themselves.

The band’s guitarist, Alexander Orlov, was also jailed for another 13 days.

In court, he sat between his lawyer and a masked police officer.

Street singers in other Russian cities who performed in support of Loginova have also faced arrests.

A day earlier, independent media reported that a court in the city of Perm, more than 1500km east of Saint Petersburg, handed 20-year-old performer Yekaterina Romanova 15 days in jail.

Romanova, also known as Yekaterina Ostasheva, had performed in support of Loginova in Perm and had already been given seven days in jail this month.

Thousands have been detained since Russia banned criticism of the Army shortly after launching its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

-Agence France-Presse