A court in Russia’s central Tula region has ruled that a foreign national must be deported over a review he left for a leather skirt that he purchased online.
The man was cited for a review he posted in September 2025 on a faux leather skirt sold on the e-commerce site Wildberries. According to the court ruling, which was flagged by Mediazona, he uploaded photos of himself wearing the skirt and wrote: “What a lovely little skirt! It hides not just the flaws in my figure, but also the fact that I’m a guy.”
The court described the review as “openly promoting the appeal of non-traditional sexual orientations.” The man admitted guilt and asked the court not to deport him. The ruling notes that the review has since been taken down.
He was detained on 23 April. After serving five days of administrative arrest, he was to be transferred to a temporary detention centre for foreign nationals in the town of Kimovsk, where he can be held for up to 90 days pending deportation.
Authorities also filed separate “LGBT propaganda” charges against him over photos and videos on his social media page allegedly showing “a male person dressing in women’s clothing”. The court sent that case back to the officers who filed it for procedural corrections.
In 2022, the Russian government expanded its ban on “LGBT propaganda,” making it illegal for anyone to promote “non-traditional sexual relations.” Since then, dozens of people have been charged under the law, often for as little as posting rainbow flags on social media.