“Meduza” studied the e-mail of an FSB employee in charge of culture

The publication “Meduza” claims that it has gained access to the electronic correspondence of Sergei Dubov, an employee of the FSB Department for the Protection of the Constitutional Order, from which it follows that he is involved in the persecution of independent theater figures, including using anonymous Telegram channels.

“Meduza” claims that Dubov’s correspondence was provided to the publication directly by the hacker of his mail. The publication does not name him, but confirms that the correspondence was authentic.

According to the correspondence, in recent years Dubov collected compromising materials on the theater critic and curator Maryna Davydova, participated in the campaign against the director Zhena Berkovich, who is now in a pre-trial detention center on charges of justifying terrorism due to her performance, helped the prosecution in the case. Seventh Studio” against the director Kirill Serebrennikov and his colleagues, and also oversaw the fight for the submission of the Golden Mask theater award to the state.

From the text, in particular, it follows that Dubov allegedly passed on information that was at the disposal of the FSB to the anonymous Telegram channel “Podkovyorka”, which is engaged in harassing independent theater actors. After the channel’s “compromising” publications, many of them faced trouble, in particular, the professor of the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts (RGISI) Konstantin Uchitel was fired, and actress Varvara Shmykova lost her job. Her intimate photos were published in Podkoverka, which appeared in Dubov’s correspondence a day before publication (it is unknown where he got them from). Also, in the mail of an FSB employee, there were photos of film critic Marina Davydova from the border, which were later also published on the Telegram channel.

The channel also publishes anonymous devastating reviews of the work of independent cultural figures. “Meduza” claims that it was Dubov who attracted critics who were ready to cooperate with the authorities to their writing. The “network” of Telegram channels associated with Dubov, as “Meduza” writes, also includes Real Cultras and “Zakuliska”, all of them specialize in hunting cultural figures. Among those who may be related to the activities of these channels, the text also mentions publicist Ivan Lykoshin, director of ROSIZO Olga Galaktionova and director of the “Zaryadye” center Ivan Demidov.

The text also states that Dubov oversaw attempts to seize control of the independent theater award “Golden Mask”. In the end, Vladimir Mashkov, an active supporter of Vladimir Putin, became the president of “Mask” after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Dubov and other persons mentioned in the investigation did not respond to Meduza’s requests, as it is claimed.