Kirill Serebrennikov

Kirill Serebrennikov again condemned the military special operation in Ukraine in an interview with The Guardian, explaining why he called for the lifting of sanctions against businessman Roman Abramovich at a press conference in Cannes in early May.

According to the director, he only repeated the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who in March asked the United States not to include Abramovich on the sanctions list. Serebrennikov thought that Abramovich could be an important figure in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. In addition, the entrepreneur did a lot for the development of Russian culture, so it would be “dishonest” to remain silent.

Serebrennikov said that last year the billionaire paid for the medical expenses of Oscar nominee Andrei Zvyagintsev, who fell into an artificial coma for several weeks while being treated for coronavirus in Germany.

Roman Abramovich

Serebrennikov also spoke of the “cancellation” of Russian culture around the world. He said he understood why this happened, but did not agree with such a policy.

The director noted that the boycott of Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Tchaikovsky only strengthened the propaganda of the Kremlin. He stressed that while working at the Gogol Center, he never cooperated with the authorities and made no concessions.

Recall that in May at the Cannes Film Festival the premiere of the new film by Kirill Serebrennikov “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” took place.