Russian theatre director fired for ‘living in a world without the special military operation’

The Ministry of Culture in the region of Voronezh in southern Russia justified its recent firing of a city theatre’s artistic director on Monday by saying that “he was living in a world without the special military operation”, using an official Russian term for the war in Ukraine.

Rejecting allegations that Mikhail Bychkov had been fired without explanation, Voronezh’s Culture Minister Maria Mazur said that Bychkov’s role had been under discussion since he began speaking out against the war last February.

Mazur noted that Bychkov spoke out against Russian policies despite being on the state payroll “for over 20 years”. Bychkov had had plenty of time “to admit he was wrong, apologise, and change his attitude towards the events happening literally 300 km away from Voronezh”, Mazur said, adding that “he lived in a world without the special military operation.”

Bychkov, who founded the Voronezh Chamber Theatre in 1993 and produced over 50 shows as its artistic director, was fired last week, due to his “refusal to change his attitude towards state policy following the beginning of the special military operation”.