In a shocking case of human rights oppression, a Russian pianist and anti-war activist died in prison after a hunger strike. The spokesperson for the European Union’s foreign affairs expressed concerns and urged the Russian authorities to release all prisoners of conscience and to stop suppressing anti-war protesters.
According to reports by Reuters, Pavel Kushnir, a Russian pianist and anti-war activist, passed away at the age of 39 after a hunger strike protest in prison.
Last Friday (August 2nd), a Russian news website reported the death of Kushnir in prison after a hunger strike. On Monday (August 5th), Kushnir’s mother, Irina Levina, confirmed the news to the independent media outlet Mediazona.
Kushnir graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and had played in the Kursk Philharmonic Orchestra for seven years. Since 2023, he had been a soloist with the Birobidzhan Philharmonic Orchestra.
According to a Telegram channel with links to the Russian security services, Kushnir was arrested in May for posting messages opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was accused of “inciting terrorist activities.”
The news of Kushnir’s passing was first reported by the Russian-language branch of Poland’s Belsat broadcasting company, VotTak. The report mentioned that Kushnir had nearly 10 subscribers on his YouTube channel when he was arrested.
Levina told Mediazona that an investigator from the Russian Federal Security Service informed her that Kushnir died on July 28th while in pre-trial detention in Birobidzhan in the Russian Far East.
It is still unclear how long Kushnir had been on a hunger strike in prison. Levina mentioned that she was informed Kushnir received intravenous drip injections, but “apparently it was not enough” to save his life.
Peter Stano, the spokesperson for EU foreign affairs, posted on social media that Kushnir’s case “shockingly reminds people of the ongoing repression” by the Kremlin, and urged Russia to “respect the constitution, release all prisoners of conscience, and stop suppressing anti-war protesters.”
Svetlana Kaverzina, an independent politician from Siberia, commented that Kushnir was in a state of isolation as there is no network for dissenters in the area, and people were unaware of his case.
Kaverzina wrote on Telegram: “We couldn’t raise money for him (Kushnir) to hire a lawyer because we didn’t know his situation. We didn’t write him support letters – we didn’t know his situation. We didn’t advise him not to sacrifice himself – we didn’t know his situation.”
According to reports from Radio France Internationale (RFI), Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny also died unexpectedly in prison during his sentence. Navalny’s team on August 5th appealed online for donations for the pianist Kushnir to be able to transport his body home for burial.
Last week, Russia released eight dissenters, including former US Marine Paul Whelan, journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, in the largest prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries since the Cold War.
However, the human rights organization “Memorial” stated that Russia still detains at least 333 political prisoners; since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has intensified its crackdown on dissenters.
The Kremlin argues that Russia needs to maintain its laws to prevent “threats and subversive activities” and often attributes such activities to Western orchestration. The Kremlin refrains from commenting on individual cases, stating they fall under the jurisdiction of the courts and prison department.