Asya Zolnikova is an architecture journalist, art historian and writer on urban culture. She has contributed to specialist publications including Archspeech and Archspace.info and has also written about architecture for Meduza, Forbes, Afisha, Esquire, BURO 24/7 and other outlets. She runs the Telegram channel Domiki and has worked as a curator at the Moscow School of Architecture, MARSH.
Her prosecution stems from Russia’s legislation on organizations designated as “undesirable.” In January 2023, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office designated Meduza an “undesirable organization.” Zolnikova continued contributing architecture and urban-affairs articles to the outlet.
In 2024, authorities brought an administrative case against her under Article 20.33 of the Administrative Code. The case concerned a Meduza article describing how recent wars had transformed cities and their architecture. A court fined her 12,000 rubles.
The case later escalated into a criminal prosecution. In May 2026, a court authorized a search of Zolnikova’s mother’s home; Zolnikova said the search was carried out on June 8.
On July 2, 2026, Moscow’s Tushinsky District Court ordered her arrest in absentia under Part 1 of Article 284.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which penalizes participation in the activities of an organization designated as “undesirable.”
No verdict has yet been issued. The case is notable because the earlier administrative prosecution was tied to Zolnikova’s professional work as an architecture journalist rather than conventional political reporting.