Breaking: Tchaikovsky winner is arrested in Moscow

The international violinist Anastasia Chebotareva has been arrested in Moscow on embezzlement charges.

Chebotareva shared second prize at the 1994 International Tchaikovsky Competition with the US violinist Jennifer Koh. No first prize was given that year.

Chebotareva, now 47, went on to play with major orchestras worldwide.

She married a man called Andrei Popov, who became known as ‘God Kuzya’, leader of a religious cult.

Kuzya was convicted in 2018 of fraud and sentenced to five years in a penal colony.

Chebotereva was placed on the police wanted list. Arrested this week, it was claimed in court that she is suffering from a brain tumour and epilepsy. She was remanded in custody until March for further investigation. Popov is reported to have disowned her.