Russian artist jailed for anti-war satire dies in custody
Vladimir Yarotsky, a political prisoner and artist from the Kuban region, has died in custody following what has been described as sustained administrative pressure.
The artist reportedly took his own life on the night of 6–7 May in Penal Colony No. 9 in Khadyzhensk, Krasnodar Krai. The account was first reported by SOTAvision, citing a letter from fellow political prisoner Aleksandr Nozdrinov.
According to Aleksandr Nozdrinov, Vladimir Yarotsky repeatedly complained of pressure from the colony’s administration. He was allegedly forced to carry out night-time labour despite clear medical contraindications. Requests to ease his working conditions were met, he said, with further pressure rather than relief.
In May 2025, Vladimir Yarotsky was sentenced to five and a half years in a penal colony. He was convicted of ‘desecrating a symbol of Russia’s military glory’ (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code) and of spreading ‘false information’ about the Russian Armed Forces motivated by hatred (Paragraph ‘d’, Part 2, Article 207.3).
The desecration charge stemmed from an image depicting a street artist sketching Vladimir Putin with a St George’s ribbon tied around his neck. On the canvas, however, the drawing appeared as a penis adorned with the same ribbon. The caption read: ‘Intelligent people see that Putin is burying Russia alive, while fools believe he is saving it…’.
In December 2023, Vladimir Yarotsky had already been sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment over this image, but the case was later returned for retrial. During the renewed proceedings, an additional charge of spreading ‘false information’ was introduced. The court ruled that he had published ‘unreliable and unsubstantiated information’ about the number of Russian servicemen killed or missing in Ukraine.
Separately, in May 2024, the artist was fined 350,000 roubles for ‘incitement to terrorism’ (Part 2, Article 205.2), over a post calling for an assassination attempt on President Putin.
