AP: A Russian piano player has died in jail while awaiting trial on charges linked to his criticism of Moscow's military action in Ukraine, news reports said Tuesday.
Mediazona, an independent Russian news outlet, reported that pianist Pavel Kushnir died on July 28 in a jail in Birobidzhan, a city in fareastern Russia near the border with China. He was 39.
It quoted his mother, Irina Levina, as saying that an investigator told her that Kushnir died while being on a hunger strike. Russian authorities haven't issued any statements on Kushnir's death.
Kushnir was in custody after his arrest in May on charges related to his criticism of the Kremlin and its action in Ukraine on his YouTube channel.
After graduating from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Kushnir performed as a soloist at philharmonics in Kursk and Kurgan before joining Birobidzhan's philharmonic last year.
The Kremlin’s crackdown against opposition activists, independent journalists and government critics has intensified since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Hundreds have faced criminal charges over protests and remarks condemning Moscow's action in Ukraine, and thousands have been fined or briefly jailed.
In World
-
Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia's war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday.
-
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te will visit Taipei's three remaining diplomatic allies in the Pacific on a trip starting at the end of the month, his office said on Friday, but the government declined to give details on U.S. transit stops.
-
Russia is ready to consider any "realistic" peace initiative on the conflict in Ukraine which takes into account Russia's own interests and the situation on the ground, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
-
China is willing to conduct active dialogue with the United States based on the principles of mutual respect and promote the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen said on Friday.
Leave a review