Prosecutor’s Office: St Petersburg artist Elena Osipova to have her paintings checked for ‘fakes about military’

Paintings of Elena Osipova exhibited at a Yabloko party office in Saint Petersburg will be checked for “fake news about the Russian military”, the party’s PR office has told Novaya-Europe.

“During the inspection, a total of 19 graphic images were confiscated, some of them containing writings that apparently provide false information about the actions of Russia’s armed forces,” the local prosecutor’s office responded to an inquiry by Alexander Shishlov, the local party leader.

A forensic examination of the confiscated paintings is set to be complete in August 2023.

The Yabloko party notes that its requests to return the confiscated paintings remain unanswered. Moreover, it is still unclear what department is in charge of the check.

The Yabloko office in Saint Petersburg was visited by police officers on 1 February. They confiscated banners Osipova had used at her solo pickets starting 2002.

The police sealed off the building where the exhibition of Osipova’s paintings was taking place, claiming there had been a bomb report.

However, no criminal procedure was initiated as the police failed to identify the hoax caller. This decision was reverted thanks to an attorney’s complaint, and no further details have been revealed ever since.

“Unfortunately, the police, drawn into a provocation organised by someone, seized the paintings by Elena Osipova from the St. Petersburg office of the Yabloko party and is threatening her with a criminal case on “fakes about military” instead of admitting its violations and returning the paintings,” Shishlov said.