Kekhman resigned from his post as artistic director of the Mikhailovsky Theater. Six months ago he was removed from the leadership of the Gorky Moscow Art Theater and accused of embezzlement and bribery

The artistic director of the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Kekhman, left his post, representatives of the theater reported this on their social networks. According to Fontanka, the parties terminated the employment contract by mutual agreement.

Alexander Solovyov has been appointed acting artistic director since January 16. He has been the theater conductor since 2020, and in 2022 he became music director.

Kekhman has worked at the Mikhailovsky Theater since 2007 as general director. He took over the post of artistic director in 2015. As a director, he staged the operas “The Lady of the Camellias,” “The Queen of Spades,” and “La Bohème.”

Since 2021, Kekhman served as general director of the Gorky Moscow Art Theater, but was also removed from his post in October 2025.

In the summer of 2025, security forces conducted searches at Kekhman’s place and at the Moscow Art Theater. It was reported that he was accused of embezzlement in connection with contracts for the reconstruction of the Moscow Art Theater stage on Tverskoy Boulevard.

At the same time, Fontanka wrote that a case was opened against Kekhman for receiving a particularly large bribe (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) - for 27 million rubles. His accounts, real estate and cars were seized . In particular, several apartments in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk with a total cost of over 200 million rubles.