Invisible Thief

The Dzerzhinsky District Court of St. Petersburg arrested in absentia Oleg Vorotnikov, an activist of the Voina art group, known under the pseudonym Vor. The court found that Vorotnikov was hiding from the investigation and was continuing his criminal activities.

Two cases have been opened against Vorotnikov. One concerns his alleged actions during the March 31 rally in St. Petersburg, where, according to investigators, he tore off the hats of several police officers and hit one of them with his hand.

In addition, Vorotnikov and his “War” comrade Leonid Nikolaev, known as Lenya Fucking, participated in the “Palace Coup” action, in which they overturned several police cars near the Engineers’ Castle in St. Petersburg. According to investigators, there was a law enforcement officer in one of the cars. Vorotnikov and Nikolaev are accused of hooliganism. They were detained on November 15 in Moscow, sent to a St. Petersburg pre-trial detention center, but in February they were released on bail of 300 thousand rubles each.

The court previously decided to withdraw the bail posted for Vorotnikov in favor of the state. Now investigators are demanding that the bail paid for Nikolaev be taken away, since he did not appear for interrogations. Nikolaev claims that he participated in investigative actions, although he lived in Moscow (investigators say that he undertook to live in St. Petersburg).