Moscow Woman Jailed 3 Years for Easter Cake Hookah Video

May 27, 2026

A Moscow judge on Wednesday sentenced a former bar employee to three years and 25 days in prison for making a hookah out of an Orthodox Easter cake.

Ksenia Belousova achieved viral fame in April for an Instagram video showing a hookah with a bowl shaped like a kulich, a traditional Russian Easter pastry.

“Even Christ would rise from the dead for this,” Belousova said in the video, which she later deleted after facing backlash from pro-government channels.

Despite apologizing online for what was meant to be a joke, police arrested Belousova last month and forced her to apologize again on camera.

A municipal court in Moscow’s Lefortovo district on Wednesday found Belousova, 27, guilty of offending the feelings of religious believers, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.

She was initially sentenced to 200 hours of community service, but the judge combined the conviction with a three-year probation sentence that Belousova received in August for drug possession to mandate real prison time.

Belousova pleaded guilty, allowing her case to be heard under a fast-tracked procedure.

The exiled news outlet Mediazona reported that Belousova’s father is a distinguished police officer, while her brother is a decorated soldier currently fighting in the war against Ukraine.

Belousova said in court that she “occasionally donates to charities,” including those that support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. She is currently employed at T-Bank, according to Mediazona.

Read more about: Moscow , Court cases

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