In a country where the mafia effectively controls the entire state, a new absurd, so-called “judicial” ruling has appeared. A music group whose message is freedom and rejection of an authoritarian regime has now been labeled an extremist community in a country where citizens who have already lost their freedom for political reasons are tortured and killed. Music itself is now treated as “extremism,” raising the question: how far can the mafia go when, instead of weapons, it holds paper, a pen, and the law?

Against this backdrop, the decision to designate the association “Punk group ‘Pussy Riot’” as an extremist organization and to ban its activities in the Russian Federation has entered into force. On 27 February 2026, the Moscow City Court reviewed appeal complaints against the ruling of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow and left it unchanged, meaning the decision took legal effect.