A month ago, three young Russian musicians found themselves in handcuffs after having been arrested for playing music on the streets of St. Petersburg.

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The musicians, who form the band Stoptime, had been playing songs by artists which the Russian government has declared “foreign agents”, such as You’re a Soldier by Monetochka and Swan Lake Cooperative by Noize MC, the latter of which has been deemed by a Russian court as “information prohibited in Russia.”

Since the trio’s initial arrest, the band’s lead singer, 18-year-old Diana Loginova, a piano major at the Rimsky-Korsakov Music College who performs under the name Naoko, will face new charges of discrediting the Russian armed forces, according to an official webpage of the Dzerzhinsky District Court of St. Petersburg. The new charges fall under the law 20.3.3, which was introduced into the Russian Administrative Code in March 2022. This now infamous new law prohibits “public actions aimed at discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” and is commonly used to punish and suppress expressions of opinions critical of the invasion of Ukraine.

While it remains to be seen whether Loginova will face criminal charges, experts have pointed out that she has the right to appeal her misdemeanor charges, a process that often takes a few months. This would give her enough time to pack her bags and leave the country, a road many Russian artists have taken.

In the wake of these arrests, people in Russia have taken to TikTok in protest, with clips of performances of “banned songs” hitting tens of thousands to over a million views within days, and protests in support of Stoptime have also taken place abroad, under the slogans “Music is not a crime,” #FreeStoptime, and #FreedomNaoko.

It was Harry Belafonte who once said, “You can cage the singer, but not the song,” and so, here are a few of the songs that brave Russian artists have sung in defiance.

It Was in Russia by Monetochka

Swan Lake Cooperative by Noize MC

You’re a Soldier by Monetochka

Don’t Shoot by Zemfira

Timelessness by Vlad

Back off, Russia! by Nogu Svelo

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗼𝗻! 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂!