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18-year-old Diana Loginova, also known by her stage name Naoko, is the lead singer of the street band Stoptime. Photo: Anton Vaganov / Reuters
The lead singer of the St. Petersburg street music group Stoptime, 18-year-old Diana Loginova, also known by her stage name “Naoko,” has been sentenced to 13 days of administrative arrest for the third time in a row after performing anti-war protest songs by opposition-minded artists, according to a report by local outlet Fontanka.
The Leningrad District Court found Loginova guilty under Article 20.2.2 of Russia’s Code of Administrative Offenses: “organizing a mass gathering that disrupted public order.” The case was based on a video of her performance on St. Petersburg’s Sennaya Square that was published by a local media outlet. Officers from the Russian Interior Ministry’s Center for Combating Extremism (Center “E”) claimed the video showed evidence of a violation.
Loginova pleaded not guilty in court, arguing that her audience gathered in a small group that took up little space and did not obstruct pedestrians. Her mother, who attended the concert, supported her, saying that shortly before the performance a traffic accident near the subway had caused police and emergency services to block tram lines — and that this incident, not the musical performance, had led to whatever disruption of public order may have been observed.
The defense asked the court to take under consideration Loginova’s text messages with her mother describing the circumstances of the concert, as well as a map showing the distances between the metro and nearby pedestrian crossings. Attorney Maria Zyryanova also requested that she be allowed to question police officers and witnesses whose statements formed the basis of the case, but the court denied the motion. The defense further petitioned to close the case, noting that street musicians perform daily across St. Petersburg without issue.
Loginova and guitarist Alexander Orlov have now been arrested three times, while drummer Vladislav Leontiev has been released after serving a sentence of his own. Loginova also faces three additional charges for “discrediting the Russian army.” One case — brought in connection with her performance of the song “You’re a Soldier” by the exiled anti-war singer Monetochka — has already been heard. Another, over anti-war rapper Noize MC’s “Bright Side,” was dismissed due to procedural errors. A third was recently filed for performing Noize MC’s “Cooperative Swan Lake,” a song that was outlawed in Russia in May 2025.
An investigation by The Insider following the initial arrest of Loginova and Orlov showed that General Roman Plugin, the chief of St. Petersburg’s police (which have been tasked with persecuting Stoptime and other street musicians), owns an inexplicable $6.2 million in real estate registered under his wife’s name.
Street musicians across Russia have begun performing in solidarity with Stoptime. The Insider interviewed musicians who continue to play after the group’s arrests — about whether they fear performing, why they chose to show support for the band, and what they plan to do next.
The song Kooperativ “Lebedinoye Ozero” (lit. “Cooperative Swan Lake”) by anti-war rapper Noize MC was banned in Russia in May 2025. The lyrics include resonant lines such as: “Where have you been for eight years, you f***ing monsters? … Let the old man tremble with fear for his ‘Lake’. … Get Solovyov off the screen, let the swans dance.”
The “old man” refers to Vladimir Putin, the “Lake” alludes to the “Ozero” dacha cooperative (“Ozero” meaning “lake”) associated with Putin’s inner circle, and “Solovyov” denotes Vladimir Solovyov, a state television host and prominent propagandist known for his vocal support of the invasion of Ukraine.
Noize MC is an outspoken critic of the war in Ukraine and of the Russian government. He has been labelled a “foreign agent” and lives in exile.