Imprisoned for a Playlist

On December 19, a philosophy professor at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University was sentenced to three years in prison for "inciting extremism." The 62-year-old had posted Ukrainian songs to his VKontakte playlist.

Alexander Nesterenko was an associate professor at the Philosophy Department at Baumanka. In September 2024, he was arrested for posting five Ukrainian songs on his VKontakte page. Authorities focused on a video clip from "Mi Rostem" (We Are Growing) by the Kyiv rock band Vopli Vidopliasova, and the Ukrainian nationalist songs "Zrodilis mi z belikoy hodini" (We Were Born at a Great Hour) and "Batko nash - [Stepan] Bandera, Ukrayna - Mat" (Our Father is [Stepan] Bandera, [our] Mother is Ukraine).

Investigators considered these songs to be incitements of violence against Russians and "a destruction of Russians as a military adversary." According to Nesterenko, only two of the songs mentioned in his case were in his VKontakte playlist. The academic also said that Russian authorities hadn't banned any of the songs. Nesterenko said, "They are available to other VKontakte users, from whom I borrowed them, adding them to my playlist for further study within the framework of my academic interests." The professor researches historical narratives and national group identities.

The professor said to the court, "You bomb Ukrainians for three years and incite hatred in them, but I didn't incite hatred against anybody." Nesterenko's former students were called in as witnesses. In court, they complained of his "sarcasm" and "inappropriate jokes." The students also complained that his online posts showed sympathy for Ukraine in response to Russia's full-scale invasion. Eventually, the prosecutor dropped the "incitement of hatred" charges but still asked for a four-year sentence for Nesterenko for "inciting extremism."

In his final statement, Nesterenko said, "I am guilty of not being among those heroes who were the first to be imprisoned for their loyalty to their ideals." However, being in prison brought the professor a sense of freedom. Nesterenko said, "The only way to resist spiritual slavery is to remain free in one's own soul, because freedom is not outside, it is within us. And while in prison, I became freer, because in prison, the true freedom, the freedom of the spirit, is felt more accurately."