Tsvetkov was also charged in connection with other images, including openly racist and anti-immigrant ones, posted on his Vkontakte account, which was later suspended. The ruling stemmed from a criminal case against a man named Aleksandr Tsvetkov, who was accused of stoking hate speech by posting the photograph of Putin in makeup on the popular Russian social-networking site Vkontakte. The Russian Justice Ministry on March 30 included the image in its federal list of banned 'extremist materials' based on May 2016 ruling by a court in the central city of Tver. Russia has officially banned a photoshopped image showing Putin wearing heavy makeup that authorities say hints at his 'alleged nonstandard sexual orientation' and also appears to have included a common slur for gay men. Critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin have long lampooned him with altered photographs that circulate widely on the Internet, many of which mock the macho photo-ops that he is renowned for.īut publishing a retouched photograph of Putin's face made up in drag - suggesting he is gay - could now have serious consequences.
