Russia charges anti-war rapper Noize MC with ‘publicly justifying terrorism’

Russian prosecutors have launched a criminal case against rapper Noize MC, who lives in Lithuania and publicly opposes the war against Ukraine, on charges of publicly justifying terrorism.

In a statement, the Moscow prosecutor’s office said that Noize MC, whose legal name is Ivan Alekseyev, made public statements at his concerts outside Russia in which he “justified terrorist ideology” and voiced support for an organisation banned in Russia as terrorist.

The prosecutor’s office did not specify which organisation Alekseyev allegedly supported or provide further detail on his comments.

Noize MC left Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Justice Ministry added him to its list of “foreign agents” in November 2022.

In 2025, a Russian band called Stoptime gained international prominence when it began performing anti-war songs by “foreign agent” artists, including Noize MC, on the streets of St. Petersburg. After its members were subjected to a string of “carousel arrests”, in which they were repeatedly re-arrested upon each subsequent release from jail, they fled Russia in November.