Vladimir Mashkov became the new head of the Union of Theater Workers

Actor and artistic director of the Oleg Tabakov Theater, Vladimir Mashkov, was elected the new chairman of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia on Monday. He was the only candidate for this position: the other four candidates withdrew their candidacies.

Mashkov will replace Aleksandr Kalyagin, who headed the creative union since 1996, as head of STD. Initially, the ballots for secret voting included four more candidates: Valery Gergiev, general director of the Bolshoi and Art Theater of the Mariinsky Theater; People’s Artist of Russia Andrey Borisov; director of the Vakhtangov Theater Kirill Krok, and People’s Artist of Russia Alexander Lazarev. Lazarev’s candidacy was nominated by Kalyagin himself. However, closer to the vote, they all announced their withdrawal.

Vladimir Mashkov – theater and film actor, director, People’s Artist of Russia. Laureate of many theater and cinematographic prizes: “Kinotavr”, “Nika”, “Khrustalnaya Turandot” and others. Since 2018, he has been the artistic director of the Oleg Tabakov Moscow Theater.

Mashkov has repeatedly declared his support for the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in 2018 he was his confidant in the elections. In 2020, he was a member of the commission on amendments to the Constitution. He supported Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022 he performed at a concert in honor of the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea on Red Square. Mashkova’s daughter Maria, who lives in the USA, reported that her father accused her of “treason” for her anti-war statements.