October 09, 2026

Arrested for Words on an Elevator Wall


Arrested for Words on an Elevator Wall
Careful what you write. The Russian Life File.

On October 2, independent outlet Mediazona reported that a man in St. Petersburg was arrested after writing a message for the Russian president on an elevator wall. The content of the question the arrested man wrote to President Vladimir Putin has not been revealed.

On September 12, Dmitry Kusnetsov got into a city elevator in St. Petersburg and wrote on the wall with a black marker. The Vyborgsky District Court press service described what he wrote as "using explicit and obscene language: [he] addressed the head of state with a question about the location of hydrocarbon fuel." The message itself remains unknown, but can be guessed at, as in "Mister President, where the %#@? is all the petrol."

On October 2, the presiding judge imposed a five-day administrative arrest for Kuznetsov. He pleaded guilty to minor hooliganism charges. 

At the time of the incident, Russia was experiencing fuel shortages due to Ukrainian drone attacks on oil reserves. Mediazona notes that, because of the fuel shortage, many drivers in St. Petersburg complained of long lines at gas stations and interruptions in gas supply.

 

 

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