In Volgograd, the magistrate, and after her the district court judge, refused to fine student Egor Romanenkov under the article on “LGBT propaganda.” Kavkaz.Realii drew attention to the publication of the decision.
19-year-old Romanenkov is a second-year student at the Pedagogical University (VGSPU) in Volgograd, majoring in philology and participates in student KVN festivals. The police drew up a report on him because his VKontakte account with the name Nicole contained photographs in makeup and women's clothing (Part 3 of Article 6.21 of the Administrative Code). The article implies a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles.
Romanenkov and his lawyer Rasim Mirzoev in court called the photographs a comedic character of a student. “Romanenkov is interested in theatrical art, stagecraft and acting, and regularly participates in the KVN student team. One of his stage images is the image that he called “mystery woman,” the words of the defense lawyer are quoted in the resolution.
The security forces said that Romanenkov committed “propaganda of homosexuality and transvestism” and was “repeatedly attracted to disciplinary action» at the university due to the fact that he came to classes «in women's clothing and wearing makeup.»
Romanenkov, indeed, had such an image. In 2022, his profile picture featured a homemade meme of a woman in a niqab with the caption “🌸woman of mystery🌸.” In his profile, despite the photo in makeup and women's clothing, gender was always specified as “male”. In the fall of 2023, when the case came before the magistrate, the page was renamed and hidden, and the profile picture was replaced with a black square.
Magistrate Elina Virabova decided to dismiss Romanenkov’s case in December 2023. The police tried to challenge this twice in the Central District Court of Volgograd. For the first time, Judge Andrei Oleynikov pointed out to the security forces that they had exceeded the deadline for appealing, and the second time — that the period for bringing them to justice had expired.
At the end of February — a few days before Judge Oleinikov refused the police for the second time — in the city telegram channel “Freedom Island” mocking posts about Romanenkov were published. There were details from the administrative case and a selection of photographs from his VKontakte page, which was closed at that time.
“Imagine this…. creature, will receive a diploma and will teach children. Boys, including. What will he teach them? — these words ended the post. It did not say how exactly its authors gained access to the case materials.