This was Russia today Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Howdy, folks. In the mailing below, we look at Stoptime, the Russian street band whose members are now fighting a series of administrative charges for performing songs by blacklisted “foreign agent” musicians. Let us know if you’re enjoying the newsletter’s new format, why don’t you.

Don’t sleep on Stoptime, St. Petersburg’s young rock ‘n’ roll stars

You might be tempted to ignore the saga unfolding around St. Petersburg’s “Stoptime” street musicians. They’re performing blacklisted “foreign agent” music, but they’re only a cover band. And everyone knows public political activity has all but disappeared in Russia since Alexey Navalny’s death. Even the mother of the group’s vocalist insists in interviews with pro-government media that her daughter isn’t an activist. “She’s never had a single thought of supporting Ukraine,” says the mom. They even have a relative who fought in Ukraine and came home with a head injury. “He and Diana talk often — she knows perfectly well what’s happening on the front.” She even argued that Stoptime wouldn’t have performed music by artists who have expressed support for Ukraine “if they’d known about it.”

In her own words, however, vocalist Diana “Naoko” Loginova shows a sharp awareness that she’s testing the limits of Russia’s militarized politics by performing music by the Kremlin’s public enemies. In an interview with the local news outlet Bumaga, Loginova said she performs the songs that “convey a sense of love.” “I understand that art today is the only language — at least in Russia — through which you can say what you think. I chose this language, and I don’t want to speak in any other. I speak the language of art.” That sounds like a woman who knows she’s risking legal trouble.

Journalists at Berega spoke with some of Loginova’s classmates at St. Petersburg’s Rimsky-Korsakov Music College, who said they warned her directly that performing “foreign agent” music could cause problems. Loginova reportedly dismissed the concerns, saying Stoptime’s street concerts would lead to a fine at most, but she was clearly aware that “conveying a sense of love” constitutes politics in Russia today.

The people who showed up for Stoptime’s performances understood these stakes, too. The case against the band’s members — involving charges of unpermitted protests, blocking traffic, and “discrediting” the military — has given fans and young people in cities far from St. Petersburg a rare rallying point. At a time when political demonstrations have virtually ceased, Stoptime’s supporters have gathered in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, and Krasnodar. In solidarity, a musician in Yekaterinburg performed a banned song from Stoptime’s repertoire — and was promptly jailed for two weeks. Yekaterina Duntsova’s unregistered political party, Rassvet, even launched a fundraiser to cover Stoptime’s legal fees and fines.

A new investigation by The Insider shows that the head of St. Petersburg’s police department — the authorities responsible for the “carousel charges” against Stoptime’s members, announcing a new case whenever one goes free from jail — is hiding real estate worth more than 450 million rubles ($5.6 million) in his wife’s name. In other words, the city’s star street musicians are under attack by an agency run by another corrupt official. What could be more rock ‘n’ roll than that? Oh, and Loginova announced in court on Wednesday that she’s marrying the band’s guitarist.

The Archive Collection: Nothing can stop Meduza from releasing anniversary merch — even if we have to make it ourselves. Check out our latest drop now!

We have a new tradition here at Meduza: every year on our birthday, we update the merch in our online store, Magaz. In 2025, we turned 11 — and despite the considerable challenges we’ve faced this year, we’ve found a pretty original way to bring you a new collection. Here’s a look at the latest clothing and accessories you can buy to rep Meduza and support our work.

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Today’s reporting from Meduza

🗞️ America’s ‘force posture adjustment’ in Europe, and how Russia lost Nyash-Myash: It’s October 29, 2025. Here are two stories worth your attention.

🪖 ‘Zeroed out’: How Russian army officers are executing their own men — and getting away with it

A new investigation by Verstka reveals that Russian commanders on the front lines in Ukraine have been executing their own soldiers — often through torture, shootings, or suicide missions — as punishment for disobedience or refusal to fight. Despite evidence identifying more than 100 perpetrators, most of them officers, Russian authorities have largely ignored these crimes under an informal ban on prosecuting frontline commanders.

🪖 ‘Like stepping into a mousetrap’: Russian military academies won’t let cadets drop out. Legal experts say Putin’s 2022 mobilization decree is to blame.

Russian military academies are reportedly refusing to let cadets withdraw, effectively trapping them under Vladimir Putin’s 2022 mobilization decree, which makes their service contracts indefinite. Legal experts and former cadets describe the system as coercive and opaque, likening enrollment to a certain Rube-Goldberg machine-based board game.

🚨 Russia adds Meduza co-founder and CEO Galina Timchenko to international wanted list

The case against Timchenko first became public in May 2025. According to state investigators, in September 2024 and May 2025, the Meduza publisher posted videos online “intended to foment protest sentiment and to involve the public in the activities of an organization recognized as undesirable within the territory of the Russian Federation.” If convicted, she faces up to six years in prison.

No country can be free without independent media. In January 2023, the Russian authorities outlawed Meduza, banning our work in the country our colleagues call home. Just supporting Meduza carries the risk of criminal prosecution for Russian nationals, which is why we’re turning to our international audience for help. Your assistance makes it possible for thousands of people in Russia to read Meduza and stay informed. Consider a small but recurring contribution to provide the most effective support. Donate here.