Ruslan Sokolovsky accused of breaking rules of his house arrest as he awaits trial for playing Pokémon Go in a church

Things were already pretty bad for the Russian blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky, who could face up to five years in jail for playing Pokémon Go in a church. But on Friday they got even worse when a court in his home city of Yekaterinburg jailed him before his trial. His offence this time? Breaking the rules of his house arrest by speaking to his girlfriend.

Sokolovsky filmed himself playing Pokémon Go in Yekaterinburg’s Church of All Saints in August and posted the video to YouTube. He said he had been inspired by watching a television news segment warning people they could be fined or imprisoned if they played the game in churches.

At the beginning of the video, before entering the church, Sokolovsky says to the camera: “For me this is total nonsense. Who on earth would be offended that you walked around a church with your smartphone? How on earth would they lock you up for that?”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sokolovsky playing Pokémon Go in the Church of All Saints

His confidence turned out to be misplaced. He was arrested in early September and charged with inciting hatred and offending religious sensibilities. If convicted he could face up to five years in prison.

A judge ruled Sokolovsky should be held under house arrest while awaiting trial, and he was forbidden from using the internet or speaking to witnesses in the case. But on his birthday he apparently received a visit from his girlfriend.

“I didn’t even really speak to her. She said happy birthday, and I asked her to leave. And then a policeman showed up,” Sokolovsky told the court on Friday, local news agencies reported.

Sokolovsky had previously criticised the Russian Orthodox church in his video blog, and his case recalls that of the punk collective Pussy Riot, who spent two years in prison for performing a “punk prayer” in Moscow’s biggest cathedral. The charges against Sokolovsky relate not only to the Pokémon video but also to others he has produced. A date for the trial has not yet been set.

Pokémon Go has not been officially released in Russia, and while thousands of young Russians are obsessed with the game, some officials and commentators have been highly sceptical, suggesting it might be a front for either the CIA or Satan.

A Russian senator, Frants Klintsevich, said in July: “I have the feeling that the devil himself has come through this mechanism and is trying to destroy us spiritually from within. But I understand it’s difficult to control this sphere. It seems this is the work of people outside the country who understand that in a year or two, the consequences will be irreversible.”