Beatles-Style Poster With Slain Russian Activists Removed From Wall In St. Petersburg
Witnesses said the poster was removed after hanging in position for several hours.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Police in Russia's second largest city, St. Petersburg, have removed a wall-sized poster with portraits of slain Russian rights defenders, politicians, and journalists, hours after it appeared on a wall in a park.
The poster, drawn as a replica of the 1966 Beatles' Revolver album cover with portraits of slain lawyer Stanislav Markelov, journalists Anna Politkovskaya and Anastasia Baburova, human rights defender Natalya Estemirova, and opposition politician Boris Nemtsov among others, appeared on July 15 on the wall of a transformer vault in the Pushkarsky Garden in President Vladimir Putin's hometown. It came on the 12th anniversary of Estemirova's murder.
Natalya Estemirova, the head of the Memorial human rights center's office in Chechnya, was abducted near her home in the Chechen capital, Grozny, on July 15, 2009, and shot dead. Nobody has been convicted of her killing.
A sentence saying "Heroes of the days that passed" was written on the right side of the poster.
Witnesses said the poster was removed by police officers and a number of men in civilian clothes after hanging in position for several hours.
In late April, a mural of jailed Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny was painted on the same wall and survived only a matter of hours before authorities painted over it.
'Now You See It...': Watch St. Petersburg's Navalny Tribute Mural Disappear
1/10The mural depicted Navalny making the heart gesture to his wife from a glass defendants' cage in a Moscow courtroom in early February after he was sentenced and taken away to a Russian prison for 2 1/2 years.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
2/10It only took a few hours before police in President Vladimir Putin's hometown arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
4/10
A work crew quickly arrived with buckets of yellow paint.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
5/10Several people commented on Twitter that the police acted quicker in response to the mural than they do for violent crimes.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
6/10Navalny was arrested in January upon his return to Russia from Germany, where he received life-saving treatment for a poisoning attack in Siberia in August 2020 that he blames on Putin and Russia's security services. The Kremlin denies any role.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
7/10
In February, a Moscow court ruled that Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case while he was seeking treatment in Germany.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
8/10Navalny's incarceration has sparked numerous protests across Russia, which have been violently dispersed by police.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
10/10"The beautiful St. Petersburg graffiti with Navalny was quickly painted over. This is how they transform everything 'alive' and beautiful into faceless and 'dead,'" Navalny lawyer Lyubov Sobol said on Twitter. "We have Russia for happiness, they have it for despondency and stagnation."
On the night of April 28, in the center of St. Petersburg, a mural depicting Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny appeared on the side of a building, with the inscription "Hero of a New Time." It took only hours before police arrived and the authorities ordered that it be painted over.
Previous slide
Next slide
In that mural, Navalny, Putin's most-vocal critic, was shown smiling and making the shape of a heart with his hands with the slogan "A hero of a new time" next to them.
Local police then launched a probe into "vandalism motivated by political, ideological, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred."
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Beatles were a symbol of freedom among Soviet youth.
RFE/RL's Russian Service is a multi-platform alternative to Russian state-controlled media, providing audiences in the Russian Federation with informed and accurate news, analysis, and opinion.
