By Ekaterina Janashia | 2026-01-12

When Dmitry Rykov stood alone in a Yekaterinburg square holding a poster with a line from a Soviet children's song, he was invoking a memory shared by generations. A Russian court later ruled the gesture illegal and fined him for discrediting the armed forces.

On December 24, the Verkh-Isetsky District Court ordered the 41-year-old geologist to pay 49,000 RUB ($530) under an administrative statute banning the "discrediting" of the Russian Armed Forces.

The ruling drew attention to wartime censorship in Russia, which now extends to cultural symbols once treated as politically neutral.

Song as protest

Rykov's solo picket took place December 13 in Yekaterinburg's Square of 1905, near the monument to Vladimir Lenin. He held a handmade poster quoting a verse from "May There Always Be Sunshine," a 1962 song by poet Lev Oshanin that became a staple of Soviet childhood, school assemblies and holiday parades.

"Quiet, soldier, do you hear, soldier? People are frightened of explosions. Thousands of eyes look to the sky, lips stubbornly repeat: May there always be sunshine!"

For decades, the lyrics symbolized a generalized longing for peace rather than a political statement. Police and prosecutors told the court that the meaning changes in the context of Russia's so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Law enforcement officials said the song has been co-opted as a symbol of antiwar protest. By emphasizing the line "people are frightened of explosions," they argued, Rykov intentionally created a "negative image" of the Russian military and its actions.

Rykov, a resident of the nearby town of Kirovgrad with a history of peaceful activism, rejected that interpretation. He told Judge Olga Trapeznikova that the lyrics reflect a basic human right to safety, not opposition to the state.

"These are words we all sang as children," he said. "Children still sing them today, and it never causes a problem. There is no 'discreditation' here; it is a call for nonviolence and kindness."

The court disagreed and imposed the fine.

A familiar accuser

The case relied in part on testimony from Yegor Gorshunov, identified in court documents as a participant in the fighting in Ukraine. Gorshunov has gained a reputation for filing denunciations against cultural figures, including street musicians performing songs by artists who have left Russia.

In a written statement, Gorshunov said Rykov's poster constituted a personal insult to his military service and undermined the objectives set by President Vladimir Putin.

"The actions of this man undoubtedly discredit the Armed Forces and distort the tasks set by the president," the statement said.

Gorshunov argued that Rykov could not have been unaware of the war and that using a song associated with peace amounted to a deliberate attempt to weaken the authority of the army. The court accepted that reasoning.

Classics under scrutiny

The ruling marked the second time in December that the same court fined Rykov for quoting canonical Russian literature in public protest.

On December 16, the court ordered him to pay another 49,000 RUB ($530) for a solo picket held December 7, when his poster displayed lines from Vladimir Mayakovsky's 1929 poem "Down With It!"

Mayakovsky, long enshrined as the "Poet of the Revolution," described war as a factory producing hunger, death and beggars. Despite his revered status in the state literary canon, the court ruled that quoting his antiwar stanzas today constitutes illegal dissent.

Rykov has faced similar charges before. Authorities fined him for "discrediting" the military in April 2022 and again in August 2023.

Under Russia's current legal framework, repeated administrative violations of Article 20.3.3 can lead to criminal prosecution under Article 280.3, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to seven years.

Legal experts and human rights monitors, including the Mediazona outlet that covered the trial, describe Rykov's case as emblematic of a broader re-evaluation of Soviet history, in which once-celebrated cultural artifacts are reassessed through the lens of wartime loyalty.

Online reaction reflected disbelief, bitter irony and cynicism toward the legal system. Facebook users compared the ruling unfavorably even to Soviet-era censorship.

"Even back in the Soviet days, we never had anything like this. Is it really true?" wrote Mikhael Orlov.

"They have decomposed to the state of biomass," wrote Irina Prizant.

"A country of total degeneration," wrote Stas Aaron.

Another commenter, Yulia Koval, mocked the authorities' restraint.

"They could have charged him with 'undermining combat readiness' and 'high treason,' since the lyrics say: 'Quiet, soldier, do you hear, soldier...' They are so kind, just so kind…," she wrote.