A Russian court has banned the Oscar-winning documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin from streaming platforms, alleging it promotes negative attitudes toward the government and the war in Ukraine. The ruling, issued on Thursday by a court in the Chelyabinsk region, declared the film promoted terrorism and extremist symbols.
The documentary, which won Best Documentary at the Oscars and Baftas this year, features footage secretly filmed by school videographer Pavel Talankin. It shows Russian schoolchildren attending pro-war propaganda lessons, including lectures on denazifying Ukraine and handling weapons. Talankin smuggled the footage out of Russia before fleeing the country in 2024.
Russia’s Kremlin-appointed human rights council had previously complained about the film, arguing that images of minors were used without parental consent. The court also objected to the display of a white-blue-white flag, a symbol used by some Russian opposition members to protest the war, which is banned as extremist in Russia.
The ban applies to three Russian streaming platforms, though bootleg copies remain widely available online. This marks the first known court action to restrict access to the film inside Russia, where authorities have suppressed opposition to the war since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began four years ago.
