How teenager gave street concert and was caught up in Russia’s repressive past

In a forest on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, they were reading a list of names.

Each name is a victim of the great terror of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

In this part of Russia there are thousands of names to read. Thousands of lives are commemorated on Russia’s annual Remembrance Day for victims of political repression.

At least 20,000 people are believed to be buried in the Levashovo wasteland – and perhaps as many as 45,000 – condemned, shot and disposed of in mass graves; Individuals, as well as entire families, were destroyed in the dictator’s purges in the 1930s.

Pictures of the destitute were pinned to the trunks of pine trees. Standing here you can feel the ghosts of Russia’s past.

But what about the present?

Today, Russian authorities talk less about Stalin’s crimes against his own people, preferring to portray the dictator as a victorious wartime leader.

What’s more, in recent years a series of repressive laws have been adopted here to punish dissent and silence criticism of the Kremlin and the Russian war in Ukraine.

Perhaps critics of the Kremlin cannot be denounced as “enemies of the people” as was the case under Stalin. But they are increasingly classified as “foreign agents.”

Authorities claim that labeling helps protect Russia from external threats.

More than three and a half years after Russia’s comprehensive invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities are pursuing two main goals: victory abroad and commitment at home.

Anyone here who challenges, questions, or even publicly suggests that they question the official narrative that Russia is right in this war risks becoming a target.

At the Leninsky District Court, the stairs outside Courtroom No. 11 are filled with journalists. There is hardly room to move.

I’ll talk to Irina. Her daughter, Diana, is on her way here in the police car to appear in court.

“That must be scary for you,” I say.

Irina nodded.

“I never thought something like this could happen,” Irina says quietly. “You can’t imagine it. Until it happens to you.”

Minutes later, 18-year-old Diana Loginova arrived at the building guarded by three police officers. She hugs her mother and is taken to court.

Diana has already spent 13 days in prison on charges of “organizing a massive public gathering of citizens that led to a violation of public order.”

But the accusations keep coming.

The “mass gathering” was an impromptu street concert that authorities claimed obstructed pedestrian access to the metro station.

Diana Loginova is a music student and, under the name Naoko, the lead singer of the band Stoptime.

On the streets of St. Petersburg, Stoptime was performing songs by exiled Russian artists such as Noize MC and Monetochka, two singer-songwriters who are highly critical of the Kremlin and the Russian war in Ukraine.

Many of these prominent musicians, now abroad, have been officially designated as foreign agents by Russian authorities.

Videos posted online show Stoptime street parties attracting large crowds, with dozens of young people singing and dancing to the music.

While singing or playing songs by foreign agents is not prohibited in Russia, a Russian court in May banned Noize MC’s song Swan Lake Cooperative, claiming it contained “propaganda for violent change of the constitutional order.”

Swan Lake is seen by many as a symbol of political change in Russia.

In the USSR, Soviet television often showed the ballet after the death of Soviet leaders, and it returned to Soviet television screens in 1991 during the failed coup by communist hardliners. “Lake” (Ozero in Russian) is also the name of a dacha cooperative widely associated with President Putin’s inner circle.

A video of Stoptime performing the song recently went viral on social media.

Diana Loginova was arrested on October 15. The police also arrested her boyfriend, guitarist Alexander Orlov, and drummer Vladislav Leontiev.

The three band members were sentenced to 12 to 13 days in prison.

In courtroom No. 11, Diana faces an additional charge: defaming the Russian Armed Forces. It’s about one of the songs she sang: “You’re a Soldier” by (“Foreign Agent”) Munetushka.

“You are a soldier,“The chorus begins.

“Whatever war you are fighting

“I’m sorry, I’ll be on the other side.”

After a short hearing, the judge found Diana guilty of defaming the Russian military and fined her 30,000 rubles (£285).

But she’s not free to go. The police take Diana back to the police station and prepare more charges.

The next day, she and her boyfriend, Alexander, were brought to the Smolninsky District Court. I was able to talk to them before they entered the courtroom.

Diana told me: “I am very happy, and it is important that people support us, and that many people stand with us, with the truth.”

“I’m surprised that things have been exaggerated. We’ve been accused of a lot of things we didn’t do. All we were doing was bringing the music we love to a mass audience. The power of music is very important. And what’s happening now proves that.”

“I think it’s not the words, it’s the music,” guitarist Alexander Orlov tells me. “Music says everything to people. It always has.”

Alexander reveals that he proposed to Diana when the police car transporting them stopped at a gas station.

“I made a ring out of a handkerchief,” he told me. “I had time to get down on my knees, and she said yes.”

“We hope to return home soon,” says Diana. “This is what we dream about most.”

They won’t be home yet. In this latest court hearing, the judge sent Diana and Alexander back to prison for a further 13 days for further public order offences.

Civil society in Russia is under severe pressure. However, supporters of Diana Loginova and Stoptime are trying to make their voices heard.

“I was in the street when Diana was singing and people were singing very beautifully,” Alaa says outside the courtroom. “For me, it was important to be here to support Diana and show that some people care. This should not happen.”

To another Diana supporter, I would say that showing solidarity in Russia now with anyone accused of defaming the Russian military requires a degree of courage.

“People like Diana are the brave ones,” says Sasha. “We are cowards. Some people are heroes. Others just follow us.”

“Some people [in Russia] Sasha continues: “They are afraid. But others here support the authorities and what is happening. Unfortunately, I know people like this. It was a blow when I found out that people I have been friends with for 40 years support what is happening. For years they have been watching Russian TV. I don’t have it.”

In the city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, Yevgeny Mikhailov expressed his solidarity through music. The street musician performed songs in support of Diana Loginova. He was arrested and imprisoned for 14 days on charges of “petty hooliganism.”

Despite the crackdown, young street musicians in St. Petersburg continue to perform music by artists designated by Russian authorities as foreign agents.

It is a cold autumn evening. But passers-by stopped to listen to a teenage band outside a St. Petersburg metro station. Among the songs they perform are tracks by “Foreign Agents” Noize MC and Morgenshtern.

Suddenly the police appeared. The party is over.

I watch three band members being taken away in a police car.

I go to meet another person in St. Petersburg who is accused of “defamation.”

Lyudmila Vasilyeva, 84, was born two months before Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.

She survived the Nazi siege of Leningrad (then called St. Petersburg) and carried with her throughout her life the devastating extent of the war.

So, when Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Lyudmila was deeply shocked.

Earlier this year, on the third anniversary of Russia’s “special military operation,” Lyudmila took to the streets to express her anti-war stance.

“I wrote on my sign: People! Let’s stop the war. We bear the responsibility for peace on planet Earth!”

After her personal protest, Lyudmila received a letter from the police ordering her to go to the police station.

“They told me that I had discredited our soldiers. How? By calling for peace? I told them that everything I wanted to say I had already stated on my sign and that I would not go to the station. They threatened to prosecute me. In the end that is what they did.”

Lyudmila was fined 10,000 rubles (£95) for “defaming the Russian Armed Forces”.

She feels no remorse, and seems unafraid despite the increasing repression around her.

“Why should I be afraid?” Lyudmila asks me. “What should I be afraid of and who should I be afraid of? I’m not afraid of anyone. I’m telling the truth. And they know it.”

She believes that increasing authoritarianism stems from those in power’s fear of the public.

“People are afraid. But [the authorities] They are more afraid. That’s why they’re tightening the screws.”

Lyudmila Vasilieva’s frankness is the exception rather than the rule. Today, few Russians participate in public protests. I ask Lyudmila why this is: is it fear, indifference, or because of the support of the authorities?

“Most people are focused on their own lives, on just surviving,” Ludmila answers.

But she claims that when she speaks her mind publicly, many people agree with her.

“When I go into stores, I always strike up a conversation. No one has ever creeped on me or made a complaint against me.

“One time I was saying something at the post office. Someone turned to me and said, ‘Be quiet, keep it down.’ And I said, ‘Why be quiet? What I’m saying, isn’t that the truth? The truth has to be spoken out loud.’

Not everyone agrees.

“As I was standing with my sign and talking to a policeman, a man in his 50s approached us. He leaned forward and said, ‘Just choke her.'”