Young Russians are split between a majority that is content with the state and their place in it and a minority that suffers from isolation and dictatorship. What unites both groups is their pragmatism and unwillingness to sacrifice anything.

Let us begin with the minority. If anything resembling solidarity actions took place in Russia in 2025 that allowed this minority to make itself visible, it was the defense of the band Stoptime.

Dozens of sympathizers attended court hearings in St. Petersburg. At the end of October, about a hundred people gathered outside the district court to submit appeals in defense of frontwoman Daria Loginova — who goes by “Naoko” — and her friends.

This solidarity can by no means be described as a mass event, but what did exist seems to have surprised the authorities. It is possible that it is precisely why the musicians were allowed to leave the country instead of being imprisoned for several years for performing songs by “foreign agents.”

The saga ended with Naoko and Stoptime guitarist Aleksandr Orlov staging a joint concert in Vilnius with Noize MC and Monetochka (whose songs had triggered Stoptime’s punishment). The reaction to that concert on the group’s Telegram channel is an illustrative snapshot of the mood of Russia’s opposition-minded youth.

The first thing you notice is that being a Kremlin loyalist is completely unacceptable in this milieu. Most comments were nothing but delight.

Some commenters reflected whistfully on the mechanics of emigration: the countries they would move to if they could, which are easiest and most desirable to settle in. Others wondered if it would be possible to wait for the current regime to die out — and whether Putin’s death would herald a better future.

Even the few sarcastic remarks — perhaps from regime agents — accuse Naoko not of anti-patriotism but merely of wanting to arrange a more comfortable move to the........

© The Moscow Times