Director Artur Aristakisyan, a teacher at Moscow International University (MMU) and the Moscow School of New Cinema (MSNK), was detained at Vnukovo Airport. According to the Telegram channel "NeMoskva Says" with reference to Aristakisyan's acquaintances, he was going to fly to Istanbul, but after passport control he was taken away by the police, after which the director stopped communicating.
The channel's interlocutors suggested that the detention could be related to anti-war posts on social networks.
“He teaches at a university that is being tested for unpatriotic upbringing. Yesterday, several posts were published about MMU, the university where Artur teaches. The management and teachers of the university are accused of propagating unpatriotism,” Aristakisyan’s acquaintances said. They also claim that the police should come to the MMU and MSHNK with a check. The page of the director's workshop has already been removed from the MSNC website.
Aristakisyan's neighbors reported that the police came to his house after he left for the airport.
The text under the heading "Anti-Russian sentiments swept the universities of Moscow" was published on March 3 in the propaganda publication "Ridovka". It was reported that MMU teachers teach students to “hate the Motherland” and praise Ukraine. The text featured the names of two teachers, Konstantin Miroshnikov and Vladimir Sukhoi.
Artur Aristakisyan is a film director, screenwriter and writer. Author of the films Palms (1993), Place on Earth (2001). In 1995 he received the Wolfgang Staudte Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.