Russian busker who performed in support of fellow musicians jailed for 14 days

A court in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg has sentenced a street musician to 14 days in jail for petty hooliganism and “discrediting” the army, independent media outlet Mediazona reported on Wednesday.

The charges against Yevgeny Mikhaylov arose from his performance of two songs: Swan Lake Cooperative by Russian rapper Noize MC and You are a Soldier by singer-songwriter Monetochka. Both artists have been declared so-called “foreign agents” by the Russian government. 

According to Mediazona, the charge for discrediting the army was only pursued following consultation with a “private individual” and war veteran, named as Yevgeny Gorshunov, whose opinion of the latter song was sought out especially. Lyrics to You are a Soldier include the lines: “And whatever war you are fighting, Sorry, I’ll be on the other side.”

The lyrics to Swan Lake Cooperative, an anti-war song, include: “Where have you been for eight years, you fucking monsters? I want to watch the ballet, watch the swans dance,” referring to the ballet Swan Lake, now a symbol of political turmoil after it was broadcast on state TV during the 1991 Soviet coup attempt.

Mikhaylov was detained after performing over several days in central Yekaterinburg in support of Diana Loginova, who performs as Naoko, and musicians from the band Stoptime, who were arrested alongside her in St. Petersburg last week.

Loginova was also arrested for performing Swan Lake Cooperative, which mocks Russian propaganda narratives that were prevalent at the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and was banned in Russia in May. She was later sentenced to 13 days in detention and now faces additional charges for “discrediting” the Russian army. 

Stoptime drummer Vladislav Leontyev was also sentenced to 13 days in jail, while guitarist Alexander Orlov was sentenced to 12 days. All three were charged with organising an unauthorised mass event.

Darya Lebedeva, the head of the St. Petersburg courts’ press service, told state-owned news agency TASS that the first charge Loginova is to face for discrediting the army related to the same Monetochka song, while the second related to a different Noize MC track. Both charges are yet to be heard in court.