A court in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, based the arrest sentence on the display of "extremist symbolism" It was the first known case of a prison sentence because of rainbow symbolism since Russia classified the LGBTQI+ community as "extremeist" last November. Human rights activists have warned that the classification is aimed at completely silencing queer activists in the Russian public.
Especially since the beginning of its war of aggression against Ukraine almost two years ago, Russia has become increasingly repressive.