Director Serebrennikov reported regular threats against him

Moscow law enforcement agencies have begun an investigation into threats received against the management of the Gogol Theater, said the theater's artistic director Kirill Serebrennikov.

“Threats have been sent for quite a long time, we just ignored them at first and didn’t pay attention to them, but after what happened on Thursday with Sergei Filin, we simply decided to publish it, especially since today there is a large-scale investigation into the threats, which we have joined all law enforcement agencies,” Serebrennikov told Interfax on Friday.

“Our director Alexei Malobrodsky, as you know, was attacked. These are all links of one chain and some nineties, which is especially ridiculous in the theater,” the director emphasized.

Earlier on Friday, Serebrennikov published a message on his Facebook account that materials about threats against theater managers had been transferred to law enforcement agencies.

Last September, actors at the Gogol Theater held protests against layoffs that began after Kirill Serebrennikov was appointed artistic director. In addition, the actors spoke out for the preservation of the theater troupe and repertoire, which were under threat due to Serebrennikov’s reform plans.

On the evening of January 17, at around 11:40 p.m., the chief choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater, Sergei Filin, was attacked in Moscow , near his home. An unknown person threw an unknown liquid in his face. He was taken to the hospital with burns. A criminal case has been opened into the attack under Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm”).

Interfax