On March 12, Russian Federal Security (FSB) agents and police officers raided the homes of artists and activists across the country. Many of the artists were subsequently taken in for questioning. According to the human rights project Network Freedoms, the FSB’s interest may be linked to a treason case against Pyotr Verzilov, a Pussy Riot member and former Mediazona publisher, who says he’s joined the Ukrainian army. The human rights project Department One, however, thinks the Russian authorities are taking proactive measures as they’re afraid these “unpredictable” artists might make a scene during the country’s upcoming presidential elections.
FSB agents searched the homes of artists and activists in multiple cities across Russia on Tuesday, according to reports from independent publications and the human rights project Network Freedoms. Many of the artists were brought in for questioning and subsequently released. Human rights activists reported that some of the searches were authorized by Moscow’s Lefortovo court under the Russian Criminal Code article for high treason.
Early on Tuesday, FSB officers came to the St. Petersburg apartment of artist and activist Katrin Nenasheva and her friend Natalya Chetverio. The officers reportedly refused to read out the warrant and searched their apartment. Afterward, Nenasheva was taken away for questioning in an unmarked car. Chetverio said that Nenasheva was brought in as a witness in a treason case.
St. Petersburg police also conducted searches at the homes of artist Sasha Blot and members of the art group Yav, reported Network Freedoms. In Moscow, officers arrested a friend of street artist Philippenzo (Filipp Kozlov), who left Russia last year because of a criminal case brought against him for an anti-war street art project. The Russian art activist project Party of the Dead also reported that FSB officers in St. Petersburg took member Kristina Bubentsova and her husband away after a search.
Meanwhile, in Yekaterinburg, artist Ilya Mozgi was brought in for questioning after police searched his home. In Ulyanovsk, artist Yegor Kholtov was also arrested after a search. Similarly, artists Artyom Filatov and Andrey Olenev were brought in for interrogation in Nizhny Novgorod, though they were subsequently released.
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Police in Samara also searched the registered address of artist Denis Mustafin. Currently, his mother lives there, and her computer was confiscated, Mustafin told OVD-Info. Anastasia Mikhailova, a friend of imprisoned activist Pavel Krisevich, also reported that her apartment was searched.
The same day, agents raided the homes of Pussy Riot members Margarita Konovalova, Olga Kuracheva, and Olga Pakhtusova. Officers took Kuracheva in for questioning and Pakhtusova’s whereabouts remain unclear. Network Freedoms reported that the mother of Pyotr Verzilov, a member of Pussy Riot and one of the founders of Mediazona, was also targeted in a search.
According to Network Freedoms, the raids may be connected to a treason case against Verzilov, who left Russia in 2020. In early October 2023, Verzilov said in an interview with Russian YouTuber Yuri Dud that he had joined the Ukrainian army. A Russian court later sentenced Verzilov in absentia to eight and a half years in prison for spreading “fakes” about the Russian army. However, on March 11, a Moscow court sent the case for a retrial due to “procedural violations.”
The human rights project Department One believes the searches are related to Russia’s upcoming presidential elections rather than to Verzilov’s case, as not all of the individuals targeted are connected to him or even know him. According to Department One, the Russian authorities consider activists and performers to be “unreliable elements” as their behavior “can’t be predicted.”