Hundreds of bold Russians took to the streets of St. Petersburg, risking arrest to demand Vladimir Putin's overthrow in a stunning act of defiance against a regime that brooks no dissent.
The Daily Mail reported that in a rare display of public rebellion, a large crowd at Kazanskaya Square on Monday joined street musicians to belt out banned anti-war songs, while Ukrainian attacks on Russian targets bring the war’s pain directly to Putin’s doorstep.
This wasn’t just a singalong; it was a protest fueled by frustration, with the crowd jumping and chanting lyrics from "Co-operative Swan Lake," a track by Noize MC, a rapper who fled to Lithuania after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
The song, now an anthem for Russia’s disaffected youth who oppose the war and Putin’s iron grip, was banned by a St. Petersburg court earlier in 2025 after legal action deemed it subversive.
Leading the charge was 18-year-old singer Diana Loginova, who was promptly arrested by police and faces charges for organizing a public gathering—an offense in a country where free expression is often a one-way ticket to detention.
Diana’s mother, Irina, defended her daughter’s actions, insisting there was no political motive behind the performance. "The songs Diana chooses are those of her favorite artists," Irina said. "There is no subtext, no malicious intent."
Irina further emphasized, "Moreover, she's a patriot of our country, she loves Russia very much and has no plans to leave!" Yet, in a regime quick to label dissent as treason, such pleas often fall on deaf ears, especially when the youth are singing pro-Ukrainian tunes.
While St. Petersburg’s streets echoed with calls for change, Ukraine’s military ramped up its pressure on Russian territory, striking an oil terminal in Feodosia, located in occupied Crimea, setting it ablaze this week.
The Feodosia facility, capable of storing up to 250,000 tons of oil, is a critical hub on the Crimean Peninsula, and its destruction is part of Ukraine’s broader drone campaign targeting Putin’s war-funding infrastructure.
These attacks aren’t just symbolic—they’ve slashed Russia’s oil-processing capacity by 21 percent, according to Ukraine’s top military commander, driving gasoline prices to record highs and sparking fuel shortages across the country.
Ordinary Russians, already squeezed by the economic fallout of Putin’s war, are feeling the pinch, which only fuels the kind of unrest seen at Kazanskaya Square. It’s a bitter irony: the war meant to showcase strength is now exposing vulnerability at home.
Meanwhile, Kyiv is pushing for advanced weaponry, including long-range missiles, to strike deeper into Russian territory, with discussions ongoing about acquiring Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned, "If this war does not end, if there is no path to peace in the short term, then the United States, along with our allies, will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression." Such rhetoric signals a readiness to escalate support for Ukraine, much to Moscow’s dismay.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the potential transfer of Tomahawks "of extreme concern" to Moscow, while Putin dismissed their impact, claiming they wouldn’t alter the battlefield. But let’s be real: if they’re so inconsequential, why the nervous sweat from the Kremlin?
As Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks approval for these weapons and the US weighs the risks of deepening the conflict, the St. Petersburg protest stands as a reminder that Putin’s biggest threat might not just be drones or missiles—it could be the growing discontent within his own borders.