Vadim Vaganov

Affiliated media: Journalist, Activist

Incident date: August 14, 2025

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Mediazona

Location: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg

Additional information:

Magistrate’s Court No. 178 in St. Petersburg’s Pushkinsky District has fined journalist and queer activist Vadim Vaganov 100,000 rubles (€970) under Article 6.21, Part 3 of the Administrative Code (“LGBT propaganda”). The charge stems from a May 17 social media post in which Vaganov marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, sharing a photo of himself with another man and the caption “Make love, not war.” Vaganov has been designated a “foreign agent” since late 2024, and in April 2025, the Justice Ministry further labeled him an “activist of the extremist international LGBT movement.” In July, a stone bearing the inscription “foreign agent” was thrown through his apartment window.