A decision by a court in Russia’s second biggest city to designate the Russian LGBT Network an “extremist organization” and impose a nationwide ban on its activities will only increase the marginalization of LGBTI people and their human rights, Amnesty International said today.
The verdict by the St Petersburg City Court followed closed hearings as requested by the Ministry of Justice and was issued within two months of similar rulings designating five other LGBTI groups: Coming Out in St Petersburg, the LGBT Resource Centre in Yekaterinburg, Moscow Community Centre for LGBT+ Initiatives, LGBTI group Irida in Samara, and LGBTI-themed media project Parni+ as “extremist organizations.”
“When in November 2023 the Supreme Court banned the non-existent ‘international LGBT movement’ as ‘extremist,’ it was clear that the authorities would not stop there. The designation of the Russian LGBT Network and other organizations as ‘extremist’ are links in the same chain of persecution and injustice by the Russian authorities against LGBTI people,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director.
The designation of the Russian LGBT Network and other organizations as ‘extremist’ are links in the same chain of persecution and injustice by the Russian authorities against LGBTI people
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director
“For nearly two decades, the Russian LGBT Network has united activists from across the country, provided emergency assistance and produced vital research on discrimination and violence against LGBTI people. Banning it is a major premeditated blow to LGBTI people and their allies.”
LGBTI human rights defenders, activists and volunteers play a vital role in providing legal, psychological and social support, documenting abuses and evacuating those at risk. Despite their legitimate human rights work, a growing number of organizations have been arbitrarily designated as “extremist”.
“The Russian authorities must immediately stop misusing anti-extremism legislation to repress the LBGTI community, reverse homophobic policies and guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, association and non-discrimination to LGBTI people in line with international human rights law. Discriminatory legislation targeting and criminalizing LGBTI people must be fully abolished, and court decisions designating the ‘international LGBT movement’ and individual organizations as ‘extremist’ overturned,” Marie Struthers said.
Further reprisals and silencing of LGBTI people
Since the end of 2025, authorities have expanded their crackdown on LGBTI rights through criminal prosecutions, arrests and fines targeting individuals, private gatherings and media platforms.
On 8 December 2025, a court in Cherkessk sentenced a resident of the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia to two-and-a-half-years’ imprisonment for joining a group chat and posting comments that authorities characterized as promoting “non-traditional sexual relations.” On 4 December 2025, a court in Ulyanovsk placed under house arrest three residents charged with “organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization” for holding closed LGBTI-themed parties and drag shows between January 2024 and December 2025.
In January 2026, drag performer Aleksandr Knyagin fled Russia after being placed on a federal wanted list following an earlier police raid on a venue hosting an LGBTI event in Kirov on 1 November 2025.
On 18 December 2025, sex educator and LGBTI activist Sasha (Aleksandra) Kazantseva was sentenced in absentia to nine years’ imprisonment on charges including spreading “false information” about the Russian Armed Forces and alleged participation in an “extremist LGBT movement.” By the end of 2025, at least 23 criminal cases had been opened on “extremism” charges related to LGBTI activities.
On 23 March, a court of Chita, Eastern Siberia, sentenced 23-year-old entrepreneur Tatiana Zorina to four years in a penal colony for “organizing the activities of an extremist organization” in a nightclub she co-owned.
Authorities have also relied on heavy fines to suppress support for LGBT rights. On 2 February, three cases for alleged “LGBT propaganda” were filed against Yevgeny Pisemsky, founder of the banned Parni+ media project and Phoenix Plus,anNGO that earlier was labelled a “foreign agent” and subsequently chose to disband. In the same month, journalist Vadim Vaganov was fined 100,000 rubles (US$1,300) also for “LGBT propaganda” – his third such fine – and soon faced a fourth administrative case. On 18 and 25 February, journalist Yaroslav Rasputin received two separate fines of 200,000 rubles (US$2,600) for social media posts.
On 16 April, a court in Saratov fined the news agency SaratovBusinessConsulting 500,000 rubles (US$6,700) for publishing a review of the TV-series Heated Rivalry, which authorities deemed to constitute “LGBT propaganda.”
“Besides criminal prosecutions and administrative fines, we are also witnessing the systematic erasure of LGBTI people from public life, including through censorship and measures targeting cultural institutions, publishers, bookstores, streaming platforms and online spaces,” said Marie Struthers.
Besides criminal prosecutions and administrative fines, we are also witnessing the systematic erasure of LGBTI people from public life, including through censorship and measures targeting cultural institutions, publishers, bookstores, streaming platforms and online spaces
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director
On 2 February 2026, a Moscow court fined a senior manager of the streaming service Wink 200,000 rubles (US$2,600) for providing access to LGBTI-themed movies. On 11 February, major platforms – Kinopoisk, Ivi and Wink – were fined between 3 and 3.5 million rubles (US$38,700–45,250) for the same “offence.” On 20 April, a court similarly fined the gaming platform Roblox 8 million rubles (US$106,900).
On 30 January 2026, the feminist publishing house No Kidding Press – which had ceased operations – was fined 800,000 rubles (US$10,300) for the publication and distribution of the graphic novel The Fruit of Knowledge by Swedish author Liv Strömquist. In the same month, cases were opened against the bookstore chain Chitai-gorod – Bukvoed for selling several titles, including Ursula Le Guin’s sci-fi novel The Left Hand of Darkness. Earlier, on 26 November 2025, Stephen King’s novel It was withdrawn from sale following complaints alleging “LGBT propaganda.”
On 21 April 2026, law enforcement officers detained the head of the publishing house Eksmo, Yevgeny Kapyev, and several employees in connection with an “extremism” case against the Popcorn Books, a publisher associated with LGBTI-themed literature. They were subsequently released after questioning as witnesses in the criminal case.
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