Serhiy Zakharov, 47, a Ukrainian artist from Donetsk who led an underground art project that ridiculed Russian-backed separatists, was taken captive on Aug. 6.
The father of three children was abducted by four unidentified men from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, which Kyiv has deemed a terrorist organization. Zakharov’s neighbor who witnessed the kidnapping asked the rebels why and where they are taking the artist but the terrorists claimed they were a rapid response team, and didn’t know the details.
Zakharov’s family has been unable to contact him ever since and still knows nothing about his whereabouts. “One acquaintance told me that my brother is being held in the Donetsk SBU’s (Security Service of Ukraine) building in Donetsk,” says Andriy Zakharov, the artist’s brother who starting from Aug. 7 has been desperately trying to get permission to see or at least arrange a telephone conversation with his brother. “I neither know about the conditions in which Serhiy (Zakharov) is being held nor about his state of health. The rebels do not allow him to communicate with anyone. Everything I know is that he is alive,” he said.
Serhiy Mazurkevych, Zakharov’s close friend, says that the insurgents are looking also for the artist’s sponsors. “They just cannot believe that a person can have their own position and can act without anybody’s financing,” he adds.
Zakharov first gained notice on July 11 when he placed plywood cut in the shape of Sharikov, a popular character from Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “The heart of a Dog” dressed in the Donetsk People’s Republic uniform. Sharikov is the Russian version of Frankenstein. The character was a homeless dog who transformed into a man but who never learned how to properly behave.
Zakharov’s other installations that later appeared in eastern Ukraine’s largest city portrayed caricatures of Arsen Pavlov, rebel commander from Russia’s Rostov-on-Don, who is known by his nom de guerre Motorolla along with his wife. Pavlov is depicted as a horned devil wearing a Donetsk People’s Republic uniform while his bride with absent eyes placed on a holstered pistol on a top of her wedding dress.
Zakharov’s third caricature mocks Igor Strelkov, the Russian leader of the Kremlin-backed separatists who on the wall of the Donetsk Komsomolets cinema. The painting shows Strelkov placing a gun next to his head entitled with the words “Just do it!”
Zakharov took pictures of his works and put them on his project’s website called Myrzilka, named after a popular Soviet-era cartoon for children. http://myrzilka2.wix.com/myrzilka#!portraits/ckiy. The identity of the artist’s had remained unknown to the vast public and many people compared him to the British street art master Banksy while acknowledging that Zakharov risked much more than the popular Englishman.
Zakharov himself was aware of risks yet he chose not to stay indifferent. “I feel big fear every time I go out on the street to install my works. I try to be very cautious since I don’t want to even think about the consequence of my possible detention,” he wrote in an emailed comment to the Kyiv Post on Aug. 5 just before he went missing. “My art is the direct response to what is happening in the city. Donetsk turns into a deserted surrealistic place with the armed men (and) their wild-looking eyes. Inability to tolerate this nightmare stimulates me to go out on the street and demonstrate my views.”
The terrorists treat him like a political prisoner, his brother says. They have discovered Zakharov’s personal correspondence with people who do not support DNR, which make his situation more difficult. “The rebels consider such activity as sabotage. Serhiy faces very serious punishment,” Zakharov’s brother says.
Yet the family does not give up. According to Mazurkevych, Zakharov’s relatives appealed for help to retired Ukrainian Colonel General Volodymyr Ruban, an experienced negotiator who has helped release more than 60 hostages from the hands of terrorists in Ukraine’s east over the last few months. According to him, Ruban agreed to help and he is now negotiating with the terrorists concerning the artist’s release.
The family hopes for the better. “Now we can only hope that everything will be fine,” the artist’s brother adds.
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected].
