Cyril Serebrennikov was detained

Today, August 22, employees of the Main Directorate for the Investigation of Particularly important cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia (SK) detained the artistic director of the Gogol Center Theater, director Kirill Serebrennikov.

According to the SK website , he is suspected of organizing the theft of budget funds in the amount of 68 million rubles allocated in 2011-2014 for the implementation of the Platform project.

The investigation qualifies its actions under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Fraud on an especially large scale"). In the near future he will be charged and the issue of choosing a preventive measure will be resolved. According to the source of Interfax , this measure may be arrest or house arrest.

On May 23, Serebrennikov and Gogol Center were searches in the case of the theft of budget funds in the Seventh Studio created by him. In the case of the Seventh Studio, its former leadership employees - General Director Yuri Itin, general producer Alexei Malobrodsky and chief accountant Nina Maslyaeva are held. On August 10, the Moscow City Court read out its testimony , according to which Serebrennikov participated in the embezzlement of budget funds.

On August 11, it was reported that the UK, as part of the investigation of the Seventh Studio case, appointed an examination in order to establish the authenticity of Serebrennikov’s passport. Shortly before, in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, the director noted that the absence of a passport may prevent him from fulfilling contracts with foreign theaters, in particular, the production of Englybert Henzel and Gretel's opera in Stuttgart planned for September.

In support of Serebrennikov, Malobrodsky and other defendants in the case of the Seventh Studio, many cultural figures, including Chulpan Khamatova , Vladimir Urin , Evgeny Mironov ,Isabelle Jupper , the Association of Free Critics , a group of French directors, actors and theatrical figures, performed .

PS Interfax , citing a source familiar with the case file, reports that the basis for initiating a criminal case against Kirill Serebrennikov was the testimony of Nina Maslyaeva and the employee of the seventh studio of Tatyana Zhirikova.

PPS on the Change.org website began to collect signatures under the appeal demanding to stop the criminal prosecution of Kirill Serebrennikov.