The magistrate of the 2nd precinct of the Zheleznodorozhny district of Ulyanovsk imposed a fine of 100 thousand rubles on the artist Yegor Zakharov, known under the pseudonym Kholtov. This was reported by the telegram channel «Simbirsky Shugozhor».
The prosecutor's office requested 240 hours of community service for the artist.
In the spring, a case was opened against Kholtov for insulting the feelings of believers because of his works (Part 1 of Article 148 of the Criminal Code). Before this, in March, security forces searched Kholtov's home in connection with a treason case brought against Pussy Riot member and former Mediazona publisher Pyotr Verzilov.
The artist's own work was the reason for his persecution, including graffiti with a woman resembling the Virgin Mary holding a bottle of beer instead of a baby and a grotesque portrait of a family with halos above their heads and Vladimir Putin's quote «We'll go to heaven, and they'll just die.»
The indictment also included graffiti with the words «We don't give a shit» and «Srus» in Church Slavonic script, as well as several other works cited in a 2021 article about his work.
Members of the pro-government nationalist movement «Russian Community» called on supporters to write complaints about Kholtov to law enforcement agencies and called him «an artist-Satanist who is offended by the whole world.»
Five authors of denunciations were questioned in court: two employees of the Simbirsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, a UAZ forwarder, an employee of the Ulyanovsk Mechanical Plant, and a member of the «Russian Community.» Many of them claimed that Kholtov's works were given to them by recommendations from VKontakte. The latter said that Kholtov «cultivates hatred towards his faith.»
The artist apologized to them and regretted that he had offended their feelings with his works.