Ekaterina Filippova
Ekaterina Filippova, Arkhangelsk Oblast. Charges: Article 148 part 1, Russian Criminal Code (Public insult of religious feelings); “Ekaterina Filippova's case on offending religious feelings”. Sentence (July 25, 2025): 200 hours of comunity service. Status: location unknown.
In brief
Arkhangelsk Oblast · Arkhangelsk · Entrepreneurs
Sentence
200 hours of comunity service
Upheld September 18, 2025
Charges
- Article 148 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Public insult of religious feelings
Full wording of the charges
According to the court, in October 2024, she organised a public mass entertainment event in one of the nightclubs in the city of Arkhangelsk, at which adherence to non-traditional gender relations was demonstrated and, being aware that the placement of religious symbols in venues hosting such events is inadmissible, deliberately, having a negative attitude towards Orthodox believers and clergy, expressing clear disrespect for society, publicly placed an Orthodox cross as a symbol of faith on the wall in the club, thereby insulting the religious feelings of Orthodox believers present at the event. The light fixture in the form of a cross was located in the club where a private costume party in honour of Filippova's birthday was being held.
Latest event
September 18, 2025 — appeal
The court upheld the verdict.
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict
· Persecution begins
Ekaterina Filippova's case on offending religious feelings
· Preventive measure: travel ban (written undertaking)
Criminal case
Ekaterina Filippova's case on offending religious feelings
- Case number
- 1-5/2025
Details and sources
Full summary
A resident of Arkhangelsk, founder of the RADAR Project, which organised club parties. In January 2024, she was fined 300,000 roubles following charges of "LGBT propaganda" among minors stemming from an advertisement for BDSM-themed parties in which two young women were depicted simulating a kiss.
On the night of 13 October 2024, law enforcement officers and activists of the nationalist movement "Russian Community" stormed a club hosting a private costume party to celebrate Filippova's birthday. Attendees were forced to the floor, ordered to present their identification documents, and filmed by activists — with the footage later leaked online.
Following the raid, Filippova fled to Armenia but returned to Russia in November. Upon arrival, she was detained at the airport by law enforcement officers. Filippova was told that she faced charges of "offending religious feelings" due to a decorative cross-shaped lamp used at her private event. She was later released under an undertaking not to abscond. In December, her home was searched.
On 25 July 2025, the court sentenced Filippova to 200 hours of community service.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 148 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.