The Sverdlovsk Regional Court acquitted Alexander Vasiliev, a guard at the Yeltsin Center, who painted eyes on the figures in the painting Three Figures by Kazemir Malevich's student Anna Leporskaya. No corpus delicti was found in his actions, Interfax reports .
In August, the court found Vasiliev guilty under the article “Vandalism” and assigned him 180 hours of compulsory work, as well as compulsory treatment by a psychiatrist. The defense filed an appeal against the verdict.
Vasiliev is a 64-year-old veteran of Afghanistan and Chechnya and has been diagnosed with a mental disorder. He himself said that in December, teenagers asked him to add “eyes” to the picture, saying that “Three Figures” was their work.
“I watched how people react, and now I’m watching: children of 16-17 years old are standing, discussing why there are no eyes, no mouth, no beauty! There were girls in the company, and they asked me: “Draw eyes, you work here.” I asked them: “Is this your work?” They: “Yes”. They gave me a pen. I drew the eyes. I thought these were just their children's drawings, ”he explained.
At the same time, the Tretyakov Gallery, which owns the painting, refused to reconcile with Vasiliev, although the damage – 250 thousand rubles – was fully covered by insurance. CEO Zelfira Tregulova said she did not "consider it possible to apply to the judge" in order to dismiss the case. The picture has been restored.
