Refuge from Russia: When Poetry Becomes a Crime

Amnesty International has declared Russian poets Artem Kamardin, Yegor Shtovba, and Nikolai Dayneko prisoners of conscience in the so-called Mayakovsky case. In September 2022, they took part in an anti-war poetry reading at a monument to Vladimir Mayakovsky in Moscow, and within days they were arrested and later convicted on charges tied to alleged hatred and threats to state security.In this episode, Tami breaks down how a peaceful poetry reading became a criminal case, why Amnesty says the poets were punished for courage rather than crime, and what the harsh sentences reveal about the growing reach of Russia’s repression. We also examine the disturbing reports of torture and inhumane treatment, especially in the case of Artem Kamardin, and what this case says about the dangers facing artists and dissenters in wartime Russia.When a government fears a poem, it is not protecting the public. It is protecting power.

Transcript

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Welcome to Refuge from Russia. I'm Tommy, and today we're looking at a case that says a lot about what happens when speech itself becomes the target. Amnesty International has declared Russian poets Artem Kamardin, Yegor Shtovba, and Nikolai Daineko prisoners of conscience. In plain English, that means they were jailed not for violence, not for weapons, not for plotting a crime, but for speaking out peacefully. Their case is known as the so-called Mayakovsky case, after a poetry reading held in Moscow in September 2022 at a monument to the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. The readings were anti-war. That's it. No bomb plot, no riot, no call to attack anyone, just poetry that pushed back against Russia's war in Ukraine. And yet, within days, the three were taken into custody. Prosecutors accused them of inciting hatred and later added more charges tied to alleged threats against state security. If this sounds like something out of a bad dystopian novel, that's because it kind of is. Imagine someone reading a protest poem at a park rally in America and then getting hit with years in prison for it. That's the level of absurdity here. Amnesty says the punishment is really about courage, not crime. Marie Struthers, who directs Amnesty International's work on Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said publicly, reading poetry cannot threaten national security. She also said the poems didn't call for violence or hatred. In fact, they opposed violence and opposed Russia's war of aggression. The most disturbing part is what happened to Artem Kamardin. He has said he was tortured during his arrest and search, including severe sexualized violence. Amnesty says all three are still being held in inhumane and degrading conditions, and Camerdin reportedly was denied proper medical care even after injuries were documented. The sentences are harsh. Kamardin got seven years, Shdovba got five and a half, Dinako got four years after a plea deal. Their convictions were later upheld. This matters because it shows how broad Russia's repression has become. The state isn't just going after activists or journalists. It's going after artists, poets, and anyone who dares use words to challenge the war. In the United States, we usually think of poetry as something harmless, even niche. In this case, Russian authorities treated it like a security threat. And that's the bigger story here. When a government fears a poem, it's not protecting the public, it's protecting power. That's all for today's refuge from Russia. I'm Tammy, and I'll see you next time.