A Viral Forbidden Sing-Along Exposes Russia’s Youth Dissent

A banned anthem broke out in central St. Petersburg on October 13, testing the Kremlin’s grip on Russia’s youth. Video shows hundreds of young people singing banned anti-war and anti-regime songs in a performance-protest then shared across social media. Russian officials arrested the participating musicians later that day.

What Happened in St. Petersburg, and Why This Song?

The crowd joined with street musicians to sing the banned protest anthem “Cooperative Swan Lake” by Noize MC. The Russian artist has been designated by the Kremlin as a “foreign agent” due to his opposition to the war in Ukraine. He fled Russia for Lithuania shortly after the war began. Hours later, police detained the 18-year-old lead vocalist, Diana “Naoko” Loginova of Stoptime, a Russian street band from St. Petersburg, for “discrediting” the army and organizing an unauthorized gathering.

The song itself is an anti-war broadside. It mocks state propaganda, references Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake — played repeatedly on Soviet TV during crises — and takes jabs at Ozero, a lakeside retreat made up of country homes known as dachas, where Russian President Vladimir Putin and key members of his inner circle formed a tight-knit cooperative in the 1990s. Several members of the group later rose to powerful positions in business and government. A St. Petersburg court labeled the track “extremist” in May 2025, making any public rendition a legally punishable offense.

Russia’s History of Silencing Domestic Musical Dissent

Loginova’s detention on October 13 is not the first time Stoptime musicians have been detained for playing anti-war songs in St. Petersburg streets. The Russian Federation has a long history of suppressing musicians that it sees as a threat to regime stability, continuing a tradition inherited from the Soviet Union.

Russia arrested the feminist punk band Pussy Riot in 2012 after their famous “punk prayer” performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In 2018, Russian police shut down the electronic duo IC3PEAK’s shows and arrested the rapper Husky. The rockstar Makarevich fled Russia in 2022 after Moscow designated him a foreign agent. In 2024, members of the anti-war rock band Bi-2 were arrested in Thailand and accused Moscow of attempting to secure their extradition back to Russia. They were eventually released.

Washington publicly criticized the Pussy Riot convictions as disproportionate and politically motivated, citing concerns for free expression. Subsequent incidents prompted lower-profile responses. However, in Bi-2’s case, U.S. and Israeli diplomats helped ensure safe onward travel to Israel (where one musician is a citizen) rather than a return to Russia.

The U.S. Should Stand With the Russian People

As Russia continues its crackdown on free expression at home, its global propaganda machine is working to paint Moscow as morally superior to Western democracies. This false narrative often includes sharp criticism of a supposed lack of free speech in the United States — even as the Kremlin jails journalists and artists, squashes peaceful protests, and labels independent media outlets as “foreign agents.” American policymakers would do well to highlight the regime’s hypocrisy and avoid playing into its narrative.

Even as Washington focuses on ending the war in Ukraine, policymakers should not lose sight of the importance of standing with the Russian people. Measures such as sanctions targeting corrupt officials and violators of human rights can communicate that the United States remains firmly opposed to Putin’s repression. Washington should also fully fund Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an indispensable source of news for many in Russia and other authoritarian countries.

Keti Korkiya is a research analyst in the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Keti and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.