Second Russian performer detained for sock-on-penis stunt

The event provoked a powerful backlash at a time when Russia is waging war in Ukraine and authorities are promoting an increasingly conservative social agenda.

 A concert. (photo credit: PUBLIC DOMAIN)
A concert.
(photo credit: PUBLIC DOMAIN)

A Russian singer has been detained for appearing before a concert audience wearing nothing but a sock on his penis, weeks after a rapper was jailed for doing the same at a Moscow party that caused a national scandal.

Maxim Tesli, frontman of a band called Shchenki (The Puppies), was detained at a St Petersburg airport, state news agency TASS reported. Local news outlet Fontanka said he had been charged with petty hooliganism.

Last month Nikolai Vasilyev, a rapper known as Vacio, was jailed for 15 days and fined 200,000 roubles ($2,182) for propaganda of "non-traditional sexual relations" after using a sock to hide his modesty at an "Almost Naked" party at a Moscow nightclub.

The event provoked a powerful backlash at a time when Russia is waging war in Ukraine and authorities are promoting an increasingly conservative social agenda. Many of the stars who attended have since issued public apologies.

 A view shows an information board, with flights to the Egyptian resorts of Hurghada and Sharm al-Sheikh marked as cancelled, at Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, November 7, 2015. (credit: REUTERS/Peter Kovalev)
A view shows an information board, with flights to the Egyptian resorts of Hurghada and Sharm al-Sheikh marked as cancelled, at Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, November 7, 2015. (credit: REUTERS/Peter Kovalev)

Rapper was convicted, summoned for military after doing the same 

It was not clear if Tesli's concert appearance was intended as a gesture of support for Vacio.

Russian media have reported that the rapper's initial 15-day sentence was later extended by another 10 days, and that he has been issued with a summons to appear at a military conscription office.