A Russian court on August 23 ruled that director Kirill Serebrennikov should be placed under house arrest until he goes on trial for embezzlement in a high profile case that his supporters say amounts to a government crackdown on the arts.
Serebrennikov, an award-winning film and theater director who was detained by investigators on August 22, has used his work to poke fun at the authorities, lashing out at what he sees as the pernicious role of the church and state in Russian society.
