We can see everything from above

The Ministry of Culture knew about the investigation of the alleged theft in the "seventh studio", with which searches in the Gogol Center were associated. This was stated by the head of the department Vladimir Medinsky in an interview with Gazeta.ru.

“I want to emphasize: this story is not related to tastes and estimates, as well as creativity as such. Yes, this situation is very upset. Like any scandal in culture. I hope the investigation will be carried out as impartial and without demonstrative rigidity. For creative people react more to form, and not to the content,” Medinsky said. Minister.

When asked about his attitude to the work of director Kirill Serebrennikov, the minister replied: "As a spectator, I am infinitely far from Serebrennikov’s aesthetics, therefore, I’m afraid my personal view of his work will be extremely biased." Medinsky also noted that in the Gogol Center was once.

“Serebrennikov’s tongue will not turn to be persecuted and offended even with the most violent“ liberal ”. He was always closed by power, he definitely has nothing to be offended,” the minister said. “This is such an ambiguous creative part of the institution, which is on budget financing, has always caused me perplexity. Most creative people and their emotional and their emotional and their emotional and their emotional and their emotional and their emotional. An extraordinary outlook on life, it is usually more comfortable not to be business leaders, but directors, authors, creators. "

On Tuesday, searches were carried out by Serebrennikov and in the Gogol Center he headed. It is also known that the investigators appeared in the Gallery of Vinzavod and to the director of the youth theater Sofya Apfelbaum, which in the past headed the Department of Medical support of art and folk art to the Ministry of Culture. Searches were carried out during operational support of the FSB.

After the searches, Apfelbaum and Serebrennikov were taken to the metropolitan administration of the TFR, from wherethey released after many hours of interrogations in the evening . Serebrennikov passes a witness in the case; He took the obligation to turn to the investigator. The procedural status of Apfelbaum is unknown; After interrogation, she refused to comment.

Even before the end of the search, the Gogol Center began in support of Serebrennikov. Theater staff called on the audience to gather at the institution. On the shares, actress Chulpan Khamatova read out the appeal in defense of the director. It says that Russian theater figures are “shocked by today's events” and know the director of the Gogol Center “as an honest and decent person”. "We express the words of support to our colleagues and hope that the investigation will pass fairly," the appeal says. The letter was signed, in particular, Evgeny Mironov, Oleg Tabakov, Sergey Garmash, Alla Demidova, Julia Peresild, Victoria Tolstoganova.

The press service of the Investigative Committee said that the searches were held in the case of theft by the leadership of the autonomous non-profit organization "Seventh Studio" of 200 million rubles of budget funds allocated "for the development and popularization of the art of the Russian Federation." Theft, the publication said, was committed in 2011-2014.

On Wednesday night, it became known that in the case of the theft of budget funds allocated to the Seventh Studio, its former general director Yuri Itin and former chief accountant Nina Maslyaeva were detained . They are suspected of part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud on an especially large scale), which provides for up to 10 years of the colony. Now Itin is the director of the Russian Drama Theater. Fedor Volkov in Yaroslavl, and Maslyaev - chief accountant of the capital's theater "At the Nikitsky Gate".

On Thursday, the Presnensky court of Moscow placed Itina under house arrest. Thus, the investigation to the arrest of the defendant was rejected and the request of the lawyer was satisfied. The detention of Maslyaeva was extended for 72 hours.

On Wednesday, at the ceremony of presenting state awards in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin, actor Yevgeny Mironov handed a letter to Vladimir Putin in defense of Serebrennikov. Later, when the president talked with awarded in an informal setting, Mironov asked him a question about the director’s search: “Did you know? Knew about this?” Putin replied that he "found out yesterday." "Why? Well, why do this?! You are flying to France on Monday! Why do you need it?!" - asked Mironov. “Yes, fools,” Putin answered.