Russian libertarian Svetov accused of “rehabilitating Nazism” with song about Stepan Bandera

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the actions of exiled politician Mikhail Svetov, accusing him of “rehabilitating Nazism”, state media reported on Wednesday.

Ostorozhno Novosti writes that the grounds for opening the criminal case was a post in the Telegram channel Russian Libertarian Memes in September 2021 showing Svetov performing the song “Ah, Bandera, Ukrainian Apostle!” by Orest Lyuty.

Svetov told Novaya Gazeta Europe that two years ago, followers of Vladislav Pozdnyakov (the creator of the Male State, a patriarchal and nationalist movement) wrote a series of denunciations against him for performing this song, and it was on their basis that the criminal case was opened.

“I’ve long been used to the fact that you don’t need a reason to open a criminal case in Russia. But here even I was surprised. There aren’t that many criminal cases for political statements in Russia yet. I feel that I have fallen into the first league of enemies of Putin’s regime. I love Russia and worry about it. I worry about myself much less. I hope this nightmare will end soon. No to war,” Svetov said.

The maximum penalty for “rehabilitating Nazism” in Russia is five years in prison.

Mikhail Svetov is the head of the Civil Society movement, a libertarian politician, and author of the libertarian media outlet SVTV News. On 18 November 2022, Russia declared Svetov “foreign agent”.