Russia Bans 'Nazi Kitten'

Aug. 14, 2014

The picture was posted on social networking site Vkontakte by a reported Nazi sympathizer and included a swastika along with the kitty and the Russian tricolor.

Russia is not for cats — or so the Justice Ministry appears to think.

The ministry has blacklisted a picture of a kitten featuring the text "Russia For Cats," a play on the notorious nationalist slogan "Russia for Russians," Znak.com said Thursday.

To be fair, the picture was posted on social networking site Vkontakte by a reported Nazi sympathizer and included a swastika along with the kitty and the Russian tricolor.

At the time of publication, the picture remained online at the Vkontakte community "Russia For Cats," full of homespun cat/Nazi humor. The community presently boasts 114 followers.

Since 2011, Russian authorities have been vested with the power to ban "extremist" content without a court order.

They had been pursuing said content with a hunter's zeal long before that, but their definition of extremism has often left something to be desired.

Along with jihadi videos and white supremacist newspapers, the 2,398-entry strong Federal List of Extremist Materials features items titled simply "3760081zi8.jpg" and "84359999ys4.jpg" (no explanation), and a depiction of Winnie the Pooh with a swastika armband.

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