Alexei Devotchenko, a respected Russian actor and vociferous critic of president Vladimir Putin was found dead at his home in Moscow on Wednesday evening.
According to police reports, the circumstances of Devotchenko's death would not become clear until a full autopsy has been carried out, but the death is being treated as "suspicious," the Daily Telegraph reports. "There is reason to suppose that the artist’s death is of a criminal character," said one law enforcement official.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
One Russian tabloid newspaper, LifeNews, wrote that Devotchenko had injured himself while intoxicated by punching a glass cabinet in a drunken rage.
Police found blood, empty vodka bottles, shards of glass and Phenazepam, a drug used to treat epilepsy, when they searched the actor’s apartment, LifeNews reported.
But fellow actor Stanislav Sadalsky said in a blog post that according to his sources, Devotchenko had been murdered.
In 2011, Devotchenko returned two state-sponsored acting awards, because he was "ashamed" they had been "received from Putin’s hands". He wrote in a blog post "I've had enough of all this tsar-state stuff, with its lies, its cover-ups, its legalised theft, its bribe-taking and its other triumphs."
Devotchenko had previously urged his fellow actors to refuse to take part in "ultra-patriotic, propagandistic, chauvinistic, anti-Semitic, or pro-Stalinist feature films and television projects" as well as "agitprop documentaries".
The actor also took part in anti-Putin demonstrations in 2011-2012, continuing to protest even when most of the demonstrators had drifted away following a government crackdown, according to The Guardian.
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarrayIn the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
