Russian stand-up comedian Artemy Ostanin has sustained severe injuries—including a fractured spine, broken ribs, and a punctured lung—after being beaten by Belarusian security forces during his arrest, according to his lawyer Veronika Polyakova.
Despite a forensic report confirming his critical condition, a Moscow court denied his appeal for a less restrictive measure and ordered him held in pretrial detention for two months, until May 15.
According to the Moscow Times, Ostanin faces charges under Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code for allegedly inciting hatred and humiliating human dignity, following a stand-up routine that referenced a legless man in the Moscow metro.
Authorities claim the joke mocked someone who may have lost his legs in Russia’s so-called “special military operation” (SVO) in Ukraine.
“There’s not a word about the SVO in the joke,” Ostanin told Ostorozhno Novosti, stating that the monologue was not political in nature.
Beaten, Injured, and Denied Medical Release
Ostanin was arrested on March 18 at the Krasnaya Gorka border checkpoint on the M1 highway as he crossed from Belarus into Russia.
According to Belarusian Telegram channel Kniga GU Baza, which is affiliated with the country's security services, the comedian was labeled an “extremist” and had allegedly “mocked SVO participants and believers.”
“During the arrest, he was also told a couple of ‘jokes,’” the channel wrote, in what appeared to be a grim admission of the violence used.
According to Ostanin’s lawyer, the abuse inflicted during arrest resulted in right-sided pneumothorax—a condition where air accumulates in the chest cavity, potentially leading to lung collapse.
Still, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow sided with the investigator, who argued that Ostanin had attempted to evade authorities and that the case concerns crimes against state security.
The prosecutor, notably, opposed the decision to jail him.
The criminal case against Ostanin became public on March 15, following a complaint from a minor patriotic group called “Zov Naroda” (“The Call of the People”). The organization claimed his set mocked a disabled war veteran, interpreting it as a direct insult to Russian soldiers injured in Ukraine.
Although Ostanin never mentioned the war or its soldiers, the Moscow Investigative Committee opened the case under part 2 of Article 282—a provision typically used in politically motivated prosecutions.
Shortly after his arrest, a video surfaced of Ostanin seated in an investigator’s office, delivering what appears to be a coerced apology.
