Italy arrests opera director on dubious Russian warrant

Police in Naples have arrested the Ukrainian opera director Yevhen Lavrenchuk during a stopover on a flight from Tel Aviv to Lviv.

Lavrenchuk, 39, is accused by the Russians of financial misemeanours while he was director of the Polish Theatre in Moscow.

He denies any wrongdoing. The director, who is being held at Poggioreale prison in Naples, left his Moscow job in 2014 in protest at Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and its war against Ukraine.

Putin has made use of alleged financial crimes to harrass other theatre personnel – notably Kirill Serebrennikov – but this is the first time such spurious accusations have led to an arrest on foreign soil. Lavrenchuk had never set foot in Italy before his arrest.

A FreeLavrenchuk page has been opened on Facebook.