Grigory Bondar16:52, 06.03.24

The Russian Ministry of Justice has added director Ilya Khrzhanovsky, former artistic director of the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, to the register of “foreign agents.”

The main reason for adding Khrzhanovsky to the list of “foreign agents” was a denunciation to the General Prosecutor’s Office of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, which was written by the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, Andrei Lugovoi. Lugovoy himself announced this on February 27 in his Telegram channel, publishing the response sent by the department.

The document states that after Lugovoy’s denunciation, the activities of the XZ gGmbH organization, which was founded in December 2022 in Germany by Russian journalist Mikhail Zigar and Khrzhanovsky, were recognized as undesirable in the aggressor country of the Russian Federation.

Lugovoi, commenting on the response to his denunciation, wrote in a post that representatives of the department “collapsed” the organization of Khrzhanovsky and Zygar. The official complained in the post that XZ gGmbH employees are ironic and “laughing at the ‘special operation’”, and are also engaged, in his words, in “changing the cultural code of the victorious people, creating a sense of guilt for the exploits of their ancestors.”

“The goal of XZ is to overthrow the current political system in Russia, to highlight “censorship-free views and ideas” through culture, art and human values,” added Lugovoy. “All members of the structure will be held accountable under Russian laws for “harm” and “treason.” countries””.

Since 2007, Khrzhanovsky has been permanently residing outside of Russia, Germany, Ukraine and the UK. In March 2014, he signed an open letter “We are with you!” issued by the Russian film union “KinoSoyuz” in support of Ukraine and since February 2022 has consistently opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So, on February 24, 2022, Khrzhanovsky became one of the first directors, writers, journalists, artists, scientists and publishers to sign an appeal demanding “to stop this war.” Subsequently, hundreds of Russian citizens joined the appeal.

(C)UNIAN 2024