Alexander Sokurov, 74, Rebukes Russian Censorship at 50-Member Presidential Council
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 18
Alexander Sokurov, 74, Rebukes Russian Censorship at 50-Member Presidential Council
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 18
Summary
At a December meeting with Vladimir Putin, Alexander Sokurov used his seat on Russia’s presidential human rights council to denounce state repression, arts censorship and the branding of critics as “foreign agents.”
Sokurov, appointed to the 50-member advisory body in 2018, also questioned giving the children of Ukraine war veterans priority for scarce free places at elite state universities.
The intervention stood out because the council has been packed with pro-war loyalists, making his criticism a rare public challenge from inside an official Kremlin institution.
His position remains contested: some exiled Russian artists pushed the Venice Biennale to drop him as a speaker, arguing he represents tolerated dissent while harsher critics are jailed or driven abroad.