Godson of Russian upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko jailed for seven days over Instagram link

St. Petersburg’s Smolninsky District Court sentenced Vladislav Tyulpanov, the son of Senator Vadim Tyulpanov, who died in 2017, to seven days in jail for displaying banned symbols, the city courts’ press service said. The court found him guilty under Part 1 of Article 20.3 of Russia’s Code of Administrative Offenses.The citation stemmed from a link to Tyulpanov’s Instagram account on his Telegram channel, the courts’ press service told the news outlet Rotonda. Tyulpanov fully admitted guilt and removed the link from his profile description.Tyulpanov is 21. He calls himself “Russia’s youngest and best-known politician.” On his website and social media accounts, he regularly emphasizes that his godmother is Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko.Tyulpanov has tried several times to join United Russia. In 2025, he received a membership card from the party’s Chechen branch, saying he had been “prevented” from joining in St. Petersburg. The Chechen branch soon expelled him for “discrediting” the party. He tried again to join United Russia in St. Petersburg, but his application was rejected.St. Petersburg publications have reported (1,2) on Tyulpanov’s relationship with singer and porn actress Katya Sambuka, as well as his videos of himself riding in expensive cars and living in a country house.For example, during his brief time as a United Russia member, Tyulpanov posted a video of himself riding through St. Petersburg, purportedly escorted by a traffic police car with flashing lights. He also put up flyers around the city with a link to his Instagram account. By then, Russian authorities had already designated the social network’s parent company, Meta, as “extremist.”At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.