Young Russians have responded to the arrest of singer Naoko with protest videos that are going viral on TikTok

Earlier this month, the three musicians that make up St. Petersburg band Stoptime were arrested while performing banned songs by artists deemed “foreign agents” live on the streets of the city. The group’s lead singer, Diana Loginova, who performs under the pseudonym Naoko, has since been charged with “discrediting” the army.

In various impromptu performances, Loginova and her band performed songs by two Russian artists living in exile, including rapper Noize MC’s anti-war song Swan Lake Cooperative, the lyrics of which mock the propaganda narratives put out by the Kremlin at the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and singer-songwriter Monetochka’s song You are a Soldier, one lyric of which goes: “And whatever war you are fighting, Sorry, I’ll be on the other side.”

Since Stoptime’s arrest, there has been a wave of Russian protest TikToks, with clips of people performing tracks by Monetochka and Noize MC going from views in the tens of thousands to over a million within days.

Many of the TikToks feature artwork of Naoko in handcuffs against a backdrop of doves or footage of Loginova’s arrest set to news clips about rapists and murderers being pardoned and sent to the frontline. Some videos compare Loginova, who made a heart sign as she was being led through court, to slain opposition politician Alexey Navalny, who, in one now famous image, once made a heart sign from behind glass in a courtroom during one of his trials.

One TikTok shows a middle-aged man with a guitar singing You’re a Soldier by Monetochka. To date, it has received over half a million views and approximately 95,000 likes. In another, a young woman performs Swan Lake Cooperative in an underpass while reading the lyrics off her phone, accompanied by a guitarist, as passersby go about their business.

Comments under the videos express support for Naoko and condemn the Kremlin’s latest repressive measure against artists. “This is my first revolution,” wrote one commenter, adding “I’m a little bit worried.”

“Let’s communicate via TikTok, to be on the safe side,” says Katya*, who created an artwork in support of the group and whose video about the process has now received hundreds of thousands of views. She says that she’s aware of the risk she is taking by posting protest videos and speaking to Novaya Europe, which the Russian authorities have effectively outlawed by declaring it an “undesirable organisation”.

“I’m afraid of attracting attention. Not so much for myself as for my relatives. But I believe we have to keep fighting, whatever it takes,” Katya says, adding that, while predictable, Naoko’s arrest had aroused both anger and anxiety in her. “Especially as the charges are so absurd.”

Katya’s account consists mainly of drawings of anime characters, which normally average a few thousand views. She sells them and also accepts commissions. “I rarely draw anything related to politics, but I have done now because the charges couldn’t be more unfair,” she says. “Art must be free.”

Katya felt “it was necessary to speak out somehow” after the Stoptime group members were detained. “Even if posts on the internet can’t have much effect, it still makes more people think and pay attention. I want to contribute at least in some small way,” she says.

Setting an example

The protests against the arrests have not been limited to TikTok, however, with musicians in some cities taking to the streets to perform the same songs for which Stoptime were arrested. In Russia’s fourth largest city Yekaterinburg, for example, one such singer, Yevgeny Mikhaylov, was detained for using “obscene language” in a public performance of Swan Lake Cooperative he gave in support of Naoko for which he was imprisoned for 14 days.

Prior to his arrest, he posted several videos of himself performing the same Monetochka song, You are a Soldier, racking up close to 400,000 views, as well as footage from a performance he did standing next to a dinosaur carrying a banner saying “Dinosaurs want freedom too”.

Another content creator, Masha from Yekaterinburg, says that she had never performed on the street before, but had finally decided to do so as a way of showing her solidarity with Stoptime after their arrests. “I thought if everyone else is afraid too, I shouldn’t just sit there and do nothing. We have to go out and set an example. I have a guitar. I can sing. Why not do it for the people I care about?”

Now she tries to play songs by Monetochka, Noize MC and the punk band Pornofilmy, known for their anti-Kremlin and anti-war repertoire, on the streets of Yekaterinburg every weekend.

Masha doesn’t think of herself as a particularly political person. “I am not interested in politics, but I still have my own opinion on specific decisions the authorities make and things they do. Yes, maybe there’s an element of teenage rebellion in this — a desire to change the world and intolerance of the injustice adults are already used to. As Alexey Navalny used to say: ‘We are the power here.’ I think everyone should know that. People don’t need a leader to express disagreement. They can do it themselves, together. And just because we might not have a clear figurehead doesn’t mean we’re helpless.”

‘Something seems to have shifted’

Comments to the videos supporting Stoptime soon began to feature disputes about whether the musicians deserved to be punished or had even really broken the law.

Videos have even appeared on TikTok condemning those who support Naoko and their campaign. One such video, which has over 200,000 views, shows a young woman answering the question “Have you already petitioned for Naoko to be released?” using lyrics from Noize MC song Backtone #1: “No. I couldn’t care less about your shit.” The video received many comments from people expressing a similar view.

“So performing provocative songs in the city centre in wartime wasn’t the best idea after all,” one commenter wrote. “So strange. She knew perfectly well what she was doing, singing songs by foreign agents, and she’s not that young,” another agrees.

None responded to requests from Novaya Gazeta Europe for comment.

The young people Novaya Gazeta Europe did speak to commented on polarisation among their peers. “It’s hypocrisy. It’s awful,” says Masha from Yekaterinburg. “Unfortunately, I know people who think like that, but I try not to communicate with them. Because it’s not just a difference of opinion. It’s indifference, a sheer lack of humanity. Either they just don’t get the enormity of what is happening or they just parrot what the system instils in them at school, on the streets, wherever.”

Nastya* posts TikToks on political topics such as feminism and censorship in universities. Her videos on Naoko’s arrest have garnered the most views. However, she has also received a large number of negative comments, she says, including from seventh and eighth graders saying it was right that Naoko had been imprisoned, a viewpoint she attributes to the so-called Important Conversation propaganda lessons that are now compulsory at school.

“It’s hellish how well the brainwashing works,” she says. “They are told one thing and then repeat it as gospel. And then these schoolchildren write with confidence and teenage conviction in the comments that Naoko was imprisoned fairly. It’s awful. I think people who support what is going on have no critical thinking faculties.”

The content creators who agreed to speak to Novaya Gazeta Europe said that they still felt that theirs was the majority view, however. Masha said she felt the support of peers who came out against censoring performers. Another schoolgirl, who created artwork in support of Naoko, says she is sure many teenagers love the work of Noize MC, Monetochka and other musicians whose songs were performed by Stoptime.

“Everything seems to have changed dramatically of late. I’m noticing more and more people supporting Stoptime. Something seems to have shifted. I feel a responsibility both for the future of our country and for the members of the group, and also pride in those who refused to stay silent and have chosen to help, even if just with words of support,” says Masha.

She is all too aware that the news cycle on TikTok lasts a week or two, and then people move on. “But I really hope the communities forming now don’t waste this opportunity,” she continues. “And that maybe my street performances will inspire someone — and it won’t all have been in vain.”

*Names have been changed for security reasons