Nochnye Snaipery lead singer Diana Arbenina reported to state prosecutor for ‘discrediting’ Russian army

The Russian rock star and Nochnye Snaipery lead singer Diana Arbenina has become the subject of a complaint directed to the State Prosecutor’s office. Its author is Vitaly Borodin, head of the Federal Security and Anti-Corruption Project, who already has a reputation for initiating prosecution cases against the independent Russian media.

TASS has a copy of Borodin’s letter, in which he asks the federal prosecutor to evaluate Arbenina’s public statements as possibly “discrediting” the Russian military. The letter accuses the singer of multiple criticisms “of the state organs’ and the Russian president’s decisions and policies with regard to the special military operation conducted by Russia in Ukraine.” Borodin laments that Arbenina and her rock group continue their “concert activities,” and that “it’s unclear where the concert money goes.”

Arbenina’s political position has been clear-cut and consistent at least since 2014, when she publicly criticized the annexation of Crimea. In April 2022, she performed an antiwar protest song “Don’t Be Silent” at her Chelyabinsk concert.

Russia’s legislators have criminalized criticisms of army operations as part of a large-scale effort to legally suppress antiwar protest against the invasion of Ukraine.

Several concerts from Nochnye Snaipery’s spring tour schedule have recently been canceled, likely due to the law enforcement’s pressure on the rock music venues.