September 18, 2026

Internet Incongruity


Internet Incongruity
Home sweet home. Artem Svetlov, Wikimedia Commons

In the run up to the State Duma elections, which began today and run through September 20, a new social media trend emerged on Russian Instagram, as reported by independent Russian outlet Sledstvie ("Consequences"). Users began posting videos showing campaign brochures and posters from the “United Russia” party that appeared in their mailboxes and on bulletin boards. But, after showing the campaign materials, the camera panned to the entrances and hallways of the buildings where they are located. What appeared in the frame were typically shabby walls, dirty stairwells, broken doors, and crumbling steps. No comments are needed to understand the statement, but sometimes the videos are followed by texts like “They found money for the flyers, but there's still no money for the repair."

The intent is to contrast slick election marketing with a bleak Russian reality.

Russians were awaiting the fall parliamentary elections with particular anxiety. Not because they might somehow influence the balance of power, but because of mounting rumors that the situation in the country will deteriorate sharply after the elections. Some predict a mobilization; others an increase in utility rates and an economic downturn. At the same time, everyone knows that “United Russia,” the ruling party headed by current president Vladimir Putin, will continue to run the show — public spaces are flooded with its campaign ads.

In some videos, users were seen tearing down such ads. This is an arrestable offense — on August 31, the Kuzminsky District Court of Moscow sentenced two Muscovites to 15 days in jail for tearing down election posters. According to the court, they were removing flyers from a bulletin board near a residential building and failed to comply with police orders to stop. They were charged with petty hooliganism and disobeying law enforcement officials.

Since criticizing the government is dangerous, and Russians are accustomed to keeping quiet in public places, videos like these — posted on a platform that is officially banned — became an important way for citizens to express their disfavor.

It’s particularly interesting that the most popular soundtrack for these videos has been the iconic song “Bound by a Single Chain” by the Russian band Nautilus Pompilius. It is one of the most striking works of Russian rock, released in the mid 1980s at the dawn of perestroika. The song describes the harsh Soviet reality and is filled, on the one hand, with a sense of utter hopelessness and, on the other, with the energy of inner protest.

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