In St. Petersburg, members of the local group Tesamie are not allowed to say "Good morning" to the passengers of the city subway.
The members of the group for quite a long time dress up in costumes, masks and hats, go to various stations of the St. Petersburg subway and hold glowing signs with "Good morning," "Have a good day" and other positive messages written on them. For some reason, the police detain the members of the group on a regular basis.
"Giving people good is forbidden" the band members wrote on their page on a social network after the most recent arrest. "We were arrested on Ladozhskaya station on Friday, although it was not the 13th. We never ask for help, but when it comes to absurdity and the problem doesn't get solved, it is only the public opinion that can help," they wrote.
There is no political motive in such actions, but it appears that law-enforcers do not seem to care about that. They already compare Tesamie to Pussy Riot, whose three members have recently been sentenced to two years in prison for the infamous "punk prayer" at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. To prove their point, the young people uploaded an audio of their communication with a police officer.
"Do you need to have a paper with a stamp to say kind words to another person in Russia?" a member of Tesamie said.