Hockey penalty. Russian news agency fined for “LGBT propaganda” over “Heated Rivalry” review

The administrative report against the publication was filed by Roskomnadzor’s Volga Federal District office, the court clarified. The article titled “Why Did ‘Heated Rivalry’ Become Popular?” was published on the SarBK website on February 6, 2026, but has since been removed.

Another administrative report regarding a similar article was filed against Andrei Bashkaikin, the news agency’s IT director. On April 7, 2026, Vadim Krikunov, a magistrate of Judicial District No. 4 in Saratov’s Oktyabrsky District, fined Bashkaikin 50,000 rubles.

Speaking anonymously to Mediazona, a SarBC employee explained that the report against the agency was triggered by a “harmless review” of a TV series, the name of which she refused to disclose.

“There’s a certain TV series that’s being actively discussed right now,” she said. “The article just came from a link exchange. It was published for a short time, but we quickly took it down. It’s a harmless review, the kind of which is all over the internet.”

The Canadian series “Heated Rivalry” premiered on the streaming platforms Crave and HBO Max in November 2025. It is an adaptation of the book of the same name by author Rachel Reed about the secret romance between two hockey players: Russian Ilya Rozanov (played by Connor Storrie) and Canadian Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams).