Young Russian street musicians who played anti-Kremlin songs get more jail time

A group of young Russian street musicians who went viral on social media for playing banned anti-Kremlin songs received more jail time on Wednesday, as authorities crack down on buskers who have staged performances across Russia in support of them

A group of young Russian street musicians who went viral on social media for playing banned anti-Kremlin songs received more jail time on Wednesday, as authorities crack down on buskers who have staged performances across Russia in support of them.

The members of the band Stoptime were arrested earlier this month after performing the popular song "Swan Lake Cooperative" by exiled Russian rapper Noize MC - who is openly critical of the Kremlin - on a busy street in St Petersburg.

"The power of music is important, and what is happening now proves it," the group's 18-year-old vocalist Diana Loginova told reporters ahead of Wednesday's court hearing.

Stoptime's show on the central Nevsky Prospekt has spawned several solidarity performances of other anti-Kremlin songs by young buskers across multiple Russian cities, including Yekaterinburg, Moscow and St Petersburg. Several of the musicians have been arrested and charged with petty crimes.

"Swan Lake Cooperative" was banned in Russia in May on the grounds it contained "hostile, hateful attitudes towards people" and promoted "violent changes to the foundation of the constitutional order". The song makes no explicit reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin or the conflict in Ukraine.