Russian pianist Pavel Kouchnir, who opposed the conflict in Ukraine, died in detention in Russia, according to NGOs.

The 39-year-old musician, who had criticised the invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s regime in videos, is believed to have died while on hunger strike in prison.

He was imprisoned in Russia after criticizing the attack on Ukraine. Russian pianist Pavel Kouchnir, 39, is believed to have died in custody, NGOs and the musician’s relatives have said. His death has not been officially announced. Contacted by AFP on Monday, August 5, the local prison administration did not wish to comment.

The dissident is said to be dead at an unspecified date in a remand center in Birobidzhan, a city located in a remote region of the Far East, bordering China. A graduate of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, considered one of the best music schools in the country, Mr. Kouchnir had been the soloist of the Birobidzhan Philharmonic since 2023.

“We have received letters from his fellow prisoners and from this detention centre, there is no longer any doubt that he is dead.“, Olga Romanova, head of an NGO defending Russian prisoners in exile, told the media on Saturday, August 3, 2024 Current TimesAccording to Ms Romanova, he died while on hunger strike.

A childhood friend of Pavel Kushnir, Olga Shkrygunova, told Russian media outlet Vot Tak that she had been informed of his death, presumably at the end of July, by his mother.

On Monday, the team of the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who himself died in detention in February 2024, shared on X an appeal for donations to repatriate the pianist’s body to his hometown, Tambov.

In May 2024, a Telegram channel covering news from the Birobidzhan region announced his arrest, claiming that he was accused of “calls for terrorism“, a crime punishable by a heavy penalty in Russia, which suppresses all dissent.

His arrest had not been officially announced.

According to the media Vot Tak, the pianist had published four videos since November 2022 on a YouTube channel followed by a few dozen people, in which he criticized the Kremlin and the invasion of Ukraine.

In one of these videos, consulted by AFP, he declared, standing in front of the camera, “Down with the war in Ukraine“, “Down with the fascist Putin regime“, “freedom for political prisoners“, and denounced the massacre of Boutcha, near kyiv, attributed to the Russian army.”Life is that which will never exist under fascism. Freedom, creation, sincerity, truth, the beauty of a human face.“, he said in this video published at the beginning of January.

In an interview in January 2023 with a local media, he looked back on his career: “Art is very closely linked to the values ​​that I have chosen for myself and to which I wish to dedicate my life.“

Last week, a historic prisoner exchange took place between Russia and Western countries. Five Western countries have obtained the release of several political opponents of Vladimir Putin’s regime, whose Russian prisons are overflowing, in exchange for the return of several Russian citizens convicted of espionage or murder.