Three members of the popular Russian metal band Korrozia Metalla were arrested on Saturday during a concert and charged with displaying "Nazi symbols," authorities said.
The three band members — aged 19, 42 and 57 — are accused of "propaganda or public display of Nazi accessories or symbols," law enforcement officials in the city of Nizhny Novgorod said.
"Police officers with the support of the National Guard [Rosgvardia] arrested three members of a music band in one of Nizhny Novgorod's clubs," authorities added in a statement.
The offense is usually punishable by a fine or a short period of administrative detention.
Police said they seized T-shirts and books "displaying banned symbols." Band leader Maria Rounova told state-run news agency TASS that the motifs in question were "old Slavic symbols."
In videos shared on social media, security forces could be seen bursting into the concert hall and forcing audience members to lie down on the floor.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, the authorities have led a sweeping crackdown on dissent with free expression increasingly under pressure.
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