A widely followed Russian designer known for his blog commentary spoke out after a video showing Nikolai Nekoglay Lebedev being restrained by police at a city interior ministry office circulated online. In a response shared on video, Lebedev acknowledged Nekoglay’s courage for sharing the incident and expressed concern about the treatment he received, emphasizing that such action by authorities should not define the country as a whole. He also noted the value of Nekoglay’s decision to publish the footage, framing it as a moment that keeps the public informed rather than letting the event fade away.
Lebedev argued that the reaction to the video should focus on accountability rather than punishment that serves only to silence a young creator. He suggested the expulsion of Nekoglay was a misstep because it shifts the spotlight away from the youths who engaged with the topic and toward broader systemic tensions. He remarked that the situation appeared to entrench divisions rather than resolve them, and he warned against letting governance instigate more conflict under the guise of security concerns.
Nekoglay himself has described in detail what happened at the police station. He claimed he was assaulted by officers and forced to kneel and apologize for a parody video. He also alleged that his head was shaved as part of the coercive treatment. To support his account, he presented what he described as a medical certificate from a hospital. Nekoglay maintained that the beating happened before his departure from Russia, framing it as a retaliatory act tied to his public posts.
In early November, Nekoglay released another video in which he re-enacted a scenario involving a Russian soldier reportedly throwing grenades from a drone, an image that was distant from his immediate location. The video was accompanied by a remix of Boney M.’s Rasputin, which Nekoglay used as a theme song for the portrayal. The post drew attention from observers who watch how online content intersects with real world events and state responses.
Ekaterina Mizulina, who leads the Safe Internet League and is the daughter of a well-known senator, publicly drew attention to Nekoglay’s clip. She indicated that her organization would forward the matter to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs because the video, in her view, risked discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. This remark highlighted how online content can quickly become a point of contact between online communities and state institutions.
Subsequently, the Presnensky court ruled that Nekoglay had violated immigration rules. On November 24, it was reported that the Moldovan citizen Nekoglay was expelled from Russia, marking a formal end to his stay in the country under those circumstances. The sequence of events—police action, public reactions, and legal measures—generated ongoing discussion about media rights, government authority, and the responsibilities of online creators in Russia.