Overview
- The Meshchansky District Court convicted Ostanin of inciting hatred and insulting religious feelings based on two monologues, including a 2025 bit about legless beggars in the metro and a 2022 line referencing Jesus.
- Alongside the prison term, the court imposed a fine reported as either 300 rubles or 300,000 rubles and a three-year ban on administering websites, according to RIA Novosti.
- Ostanin pleaded not guilty, apologized to those who may have been offended by his religious joke, and called the complainants “professional informers.”
- He was detained in Belarus in March 2025 at Russia’s request; he alleges he was beaten by Belarusian security forces, a claim the Belarusian Interior Ministry denies.
- Prosecutors sought five years and eleven months plus a 300,000‑ruble fine, and Rosfinmonitoring added Ostanin to its extremist and terrorist list in June 2025.