Russia frees theft claim director from house arrest

An acclaimed Russian theatre and film director has been freed from house arrest after calls for his release from prominent cultural figures worldwide.

Moscow City Court overturned a district court’s decision to extend the house arrest for Kirill Serebrennikov, ordered him freed on his own recognisance and requested that he not leave the Russian capital pending completion of his trial. Two of his associates were also freed from house arrest.

Serebrennikov has been under house arrest for nearly 20 months on charges of embezzling 133 million roubles (about £1.5 million) of state funding for a theatre project. He has rejected the accusations as absurd, and many in Russia saw the charges as punishment for his antiestablishment views.