Moscow’s Gogol Center And Center Director’s Apartment Raided By Police
Earlier today, Russian police raided the acclaimed Gogol Center in Moscow as well as the home of the theater’s director, Kirill Serebrennikov (whose father is Jewish). Though the Moscow Police have yet to release an official statement, it is being reported that the operation is part of an ongoing corruption investigation. According to the Moscow Times, “The head of Moscow’s culture department, Alexander Kibovsky, recently claimed that the theater had fallen into debts of roughly 80 million rubles.”
However, in Putin’s Russia, investigations and police harassment are often used as a tactic of intimidation against critics. Serebrennikov has a history of protesting the Putin regime and the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Gogol center also has a history of performing controversial and difficult works that deal with taboo topics in Putin’s Russia. According to Radio Free Europe, “Ballet great Mikhail Baryshnikov suggested political motives were behind what he called the “repression” of an outspoken advocate of freedom. ‘An artist of whom Russia should be proud is being debased and humiliated,’ Baryshnikov said.”
The Gogol Center has previously been subjected to state scrutiny in 2015. As of yet, Serebrennikov has not been charged or arrested with any crime, and the Gogol Theater plans to perform tonight despite the police action.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30