Russia Without Putin (Russian: Россия без Путина) is a Russian political tabletop game designed in Saint Petersburg in 2018 by activist Pavel Chuprunov. The game drew media attention when Saint Petersburg police seized a demo copy along with a rubber mask during a street action; a court later ordered the items returned. Public play sessions and mini-tournaments followed, and the game was covered by Russian and foreign media.[1]
History
editOn 5 October 2018, a demo version of the game and a rubber mask were seized from activist Pavel Chuprunov near Smolny in Saint Petersburg; detainees were taken to Police Station No. 76 and charged under Article 19.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences. The police paperwork explicitly mentioned the "RussiaWithoutPutin" game.[2]
On 30 October 2018, MK Saint Petersburg reported a complaint against the police with a demand to return the seized items (the mask and the game) and noted that Chuprunov had been sentenced to five days of administrative arrest.[3]
On 1 November 2018, Fontanka published a feature describing the circumstances and components of the game and noting that a court ordered the demo set be returned to its owner.[1] According to Fontanka, the demo set included around a hundred thick cardboard cards split into four "teams" — pro-government (United Russia, "Putin’s Squads") and opposition (Open Russia, "Navalny’s HQ") — featuring politicians and public figures; each card had a strength value and victory was determined by total points.[1]
On 9 December 2018, the Czech daily Deník N ran a detailed report on the seizure near Smolny and the subsequent story, including video stills and participant accounts.[4]
In January 2019, RFE/RL outlets covered mini-tournaments in Saint Petersburg; Radio Svoboda ran a story and video, with related pieces on Krym.Realii and RFE/RL's Moldovan service. These reports identify Chuprunov as the designer and organizer of public sessions.[5][6][7]
On 13 September 2019, the Lithuanian outlet 15min ran a broader piece on civic-education board games that discussed the game's original idea (“to discuss politics in a safer format”), early playtests, printing hurdles and audiences, and noted cases where participants later joined rallies.[8]
Related projects
editReferences
edit- 1 2 3 "Вернуть «Россию без Путина». Полиция приобщилась к опасной игре" [Return “Russia without Putin”. Police got involved with a dangerous game]. Fontanka.ru (in Russian). 1 November 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ↑ "В Петербурге задержали троих активистов «Открытой России»" [Three Open Russia activists detained in Saint Petersburg]. OVD-Info (in Russian). 5 October 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ↑ "Активист просит полицию вернуть маску Путина" [Activist asks police to return Putin mask]. MK Saint Petersburg (in Russian). 30 October 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ↑ "Nebezpečné! Zabaveno! Tuto stolní hru pod stromečkem nenajdete. Hrají ji ruští policisté" [Dangerous! Confiscated! You won’t find this board game under the Christmas tree. Russian police play it.]. Deník N (in Czech). 9 December 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ↑ "Настольная «Россия без Путина»" [Board game “Russia without Putin”]. Radio Svoboda (RFE/RL) (in Russian). 29 January 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ↑ "В Петербурге создали настольную игру «Россия без Путина» (видео)" [A board game “Russia without Putin” created in Saint Petersburg (video)]. Krym.Realii (RFE/RL) (in Russian). 29 January 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ↑ "Jocul de societate "Rusia fără Putin"" [Board game “Russia without Putin”]. Europa Liberă Moldova (RFE/RL) (in Romanian). 30 January 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ↑ "Rusijos politinę kultūrą kelia stalo žaidimais…" [Raising Russia’s political culture with board games…]. 15min (in Lithuanian). 13 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ↑ "Спасибо всем, кто пришёл поиграть в интерактивную игру «90-е»! (отчёт)" [Thanks to everyone who came to play the interactive game “The 90s”! (report)]. Russians Against the War (SE) (in Russian). 16 November 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2025.