A Russian actor has cut his wrists in front of a live audience to protest the firing of the theatre director for opposing Putin’s conflict in Ukraine. During a curtain call in Ulan-Ude, eastern Siberia, Artur Shuvalov told the audience that he had been bullied by the theatre because he backed the then-director.
Shuvalov claimed that the theatre was withholding his salary and had fired his actress wife.
He pulled a knife from his pocket and informed the audience that the management of the theatre was to blame for his death.
The actor then started cutting his right arm, which shocked the audience and fellow cast members as others raced to help him.
The incident was captured on film and shared on Twitter.
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The actor, who apparently also has cancer, was taken to hospital but did not suffer any serious injuries.
Sergei Levitsky, the theatre’s then-director, was dismissed in 2022 for opposing Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.
Shuvalov criticised the decision, saying he and his wife had been ‘bullied’ and ‘harassed’ ever since.
He told the audience: « Throughout the year they have tried to fire me from the theatre, humiliate me, deprive me of work and money.
« Today they signed a statement, they fired my wife Svetlana Polyanskaya. »
Shuvalov continued: « I don’t want to put up with it. But I have no more strength and no more choice.
« I don’t want to hear that artists are ‘representatives of the oldest professions ».
« And I believe that our audience is worthy of smart direction, and not as our artistic director says.
« Please forgive me again. I’m tired. I have no more choice. I want to say just one thing: Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Dyachenko [artistic director], Natalya Nikolaevna Svetozarova [theater director], these people are to blame for my death. »
It comes as Russia‘s state-owned news agency Tass reported on the planned spring conscription in Russia.
The general staff of the armed forces of the Russian Federation has stated that there are no plans for such an event.
Vladimir Tsimlyansky, head of the main organisational and mobilisation directorate of the general staff, has assured the public that the conscription will take place at the usual time, from April 1 to July 15, and will affect 147,000 Russians aged 18 to 27.
He stated that those who have already been called up for military service, as well as those who have voluntarily expressed a desire to participate, are enough to fulfil the assigned tasks.
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