Renowned opposition rapper accused in grooming-and-assault scandal

Russia’s #MeToo movement resurfaced last week, after journalist Nastya Krasilnikov released an investigation into popular rapper Oxxxymiron, in which he was accused of grooming underage girls and sexually assaulting them once they had turned 16. For more than a decade, the performer has been not only a prominent figure in independent music, but also a voice for opposition-minded Russians. Now he has fallen silent, while more and more girls come forward with stories of being harassed and groomed by older men.

In a podcast investigation three girls accused Miron Fedorov (the rapper’s real name) of grooming them when they were under the age of 16 in incidents that took place in the late 2000s and early 2010s. 

• Oxxxymiron is one of the most famous contemporary Russian musicians. He has released three studio albums and three mixtapes which were well received by critics. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine he spoke out against the war and gave several concerts in support of Ukraine. After that, Fedorov ran into difficulties with the Russian authorities: first they listed him as a “foreign agent” (a repressive status that the Kremlin uses to mute its critics), then he was charged with inciting separatism and placed on the wanted list. 
• The first woman, Vera Markovich, said that when she was 15 and Fedorov was 23 he became her legal guardian in Britain and started helping with her studies. She alleged that while she was 15, he first tried to persuade her to have sex with him, and then when she turned 16 he raped her, forcing himself on her after a party. Several years later, when they were both living in Russia, Markovich briefly worked as Oxxxymiron’s manager and had a relationship with him.
• The second woman, Vika Kuchak, said she got to know the rapper online when she was 13. Despite a 10-year age gap, Fedorov started actively chatting with her, she said. When she was 16, Kuchak went to one of his concerts after which she alleges he raped her. “Grooming a child for three years, then having sex with her – that’s rape,” she explained. After the podcast was released she lodged a complaint against Fedorov with the authorities.
• The third alleged victim, Vika Mikhailova, got to know the musician when she was 15 and he was 23. Fedorov asked her to send intimate photos and repeatedly encouraged her to have sex with him, she said. 
• The allegations have been heavily discussed and kick-started a movement of young women coming forward to speak of how they experienced or witnessed violence or harassment from older men while they were teenagers, including famous journalist Anna Narinskaya.
• Fedorov himself has not commented on the allegations. On his most recent Instagram post there were hundreds of angry comments demanding an explanation.

Why the world should care

Since the start of the war many cultural figures who spoke out against the invasion were adopted as kindred spirits by the Russian opposition — both those who left Russia and those who remained but refused to support the Kremlin. But these allegations suggest some of these celebrities turned out to have skeletons in their closets.