The long grip. Ex‑journalist from a Siberian town living in Miami fined over photos and videos from anti‑war rallies and Navalny memorials in the US

Zheleznogorsk is a closed nuclear town near Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, built around plutonium production and satellite manufacturing, that outsiders need a permit to enter. The conduct described in the ruling took place around 11,000 kilometres, or 6,800 miles away, in Miami. Mediazona discovered the text of the court’s decision.

According to the ruling, Nikiforova took part in the work of two organisations: “Hope Harbor Society” and “Russian America for Democracy in Russia” (RADR). From March 2021 “to the present day”, the court states, she attended rallies and demonstrations of an “anti-war orientation” in Miami, along with events in support of political prisoners and Alexei Navalny, and memorial services held after his death.

At these gatherings, the ruling says, Nikiforova interviewed participants, commented on what was happening, and then passed on photos and videos “for publication in the profile” of “Russian America for Democracy in Russia” on Instagram, a platform owned by Meta, itself banned in Russia as “extremist”. The organisation was declared “undesirable” in December 2023. “Hope Harbor Society”, an association of anti-war Russians in Florida, received the same designation in April 2025, meaning the participation the court dates to March 2021 began more than two and a half years before either group was outlawed.

Judging by her social media, Nikiforova moved from Russia to the United States in 2021. In 2020, Mediazona reported on the harassment she said she faced in Zheleznogorsk after publishing a video about the poor quality of food distributed to children from large families. Unknown persons scrawled “Bitch” and “Scum” on the fence of her house and sprayed paint on her car.

The fine itself is modest, but the mechanism behind it is not: amendments passed in 2021 extended liability under the “undesirable organisations” law to activity abroad, and a repeat administrative offence within a year opens the way to criminal charges carrying up to four years in prison, a route Russian authorities have increasingly used against émigrés who assumed distance put them out of reach.