Employees of the Tretyakov Gallery were obliged to meet with the participants of “SVO”

Employees of the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow received instructions to come to a meeting with the participants of the “special military operation” – that’s how the Russian authorities call the war in Ukraine. As indicated in the newsletter, the main goal of the event is to “reveal the terrorist nature of Ukrainian radical structures.” The management staff of the museum are required to ensure the attendance of at least one employee from each department.

A copy of the official letter was published in her Telegram channel by the Moscow art historian Ksenia Korobeynikova. She believes that “new initiatives” can spread to other cultural institutions.

The Tretyakov Gallery is one of the main Russian museums of fine art. In early February, the previous director of the museum, Zelfira Tregulova, left her post due to the end of her employment contract. Tregulova’s dismissal was preceded by an application to the Ministry of Culture of Russia from one of the visitors. He demanded to start an inspection of the museum for compliance with the state policy in the field of “spiritual and moral values”, because he did not like some of the works in the exposition.

The new director was Elena Pronycheva, the daughter of the former deputy head of the FSB, army general Vladimir Pronycheva. Previously, Pronycheva held managerial positions at the Jewish Museum and the Center for Tolerance, and then at the Moscow Polytechnic Museum. She does not have an art education, but her colleagues speak of her as an effective manager.