The Russian government fined a 19-year old college student in the Crimean city of Sevastopol 99,000 rubles (USD $1,300) Monday for allegedly “discrediting armed forces” and promoting “LGTBQA+ propaganda” on Telegram chat posts.

According to the city’s Interior Ministry, the student posted comments critical of the Russian military’s involvement in Ukraine and voiced support for homosexuality identity. In one post authorities cited as evidence against him, the student allegedly wrote “I am 72% gay” along with the results from a joke-bot’s random assessment of his online activity. Another screenshot reveals a post calling to petition Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to create a “reservation of Russian slaves for residents of temporally occupied territories.”

Russia has labeled the LGBTQA+ movement as extremist and has banned it since 2023. Fines for “LGTBQA+ propaganda” are part of a continued crackdown on the LGTBQA+ community and amassed the Russian government 25 million rubles (USD $314,000) in 2024. The suppressive action has targeted individuals and companies alike. Local businesses are also under threat. In May, a Saint Petersburg court fined a bookstore 800,000 rubles (USD $10,000) for selling books in which “signs of propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” were found.

The crackdown has resulted in more serious punishments as well: earlier this month, a legal proceeding was initiated against a LGTBQA+ activist, and a resident of Tula Oblast Fedyainov was detained for seven days for publishing LGTBQA+ symbols on social media site VKontakte between January 2021 and December 2022, before the government began targeting LGBTQA+ content in 2023. In February, the first public sentence for LGTBQA+ involvement was issued.