A court in the Russian city of Saratov has fined the local news agency SaratovBusinessConsulting, or SarBK, 500,000 rubles (just over $6,600) for its violation of the country’s so-called “LGBT propaganda” laws. Independent Russian outlet Mediazona, citing the court’s press service, reported that the case stemmed from a review published on the outlet’s website about the hit Canadian TV series Heated Rivalry. The article — titled “Why Has Heated Rivalry Become Popular?” — was published on Feb. 6 and has since been deleted.
A second administrative case under the same article was brought against SarBK’s director of information technology, Andrei Bashkaykin. He was fined 50,000 rubles ($660).
An unnamed SarBK employee confirmed to Mediazona that the case against the outlet was opened over what she called a “harmless review” of the Canadian series. “There is a certain series that is being widely discussed right now. The article just came through a link exchange. It was published for a short time, but we removed it quickly. The review was harmless — there are plenty like it on the internet,” the journalist said.
Heated Rivalry premiered on the streaming platforms Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the U.S. in November 2025. The series is based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers books and tells the story of a secret romance between two male hockey players: Ilya Rozanov from Russia and Canadian player Shane Hollander.
