Pavel Kushnier, Anti-War Russian Musician, Dies in Custody

Pavel Kushnier, a classical pianist and anti-war activist, reportedly died in a detention center in Birobidzhan, the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in eastern Russia. According to his acquaintances, the 39-year-old musician died on Saturday, August 6, due to complications from a dry hunger strike he had begun in protest against Moscow's war against Ukraine. In a dry hunger strike, the protester abstains from both food and liquids. Mr. Kushnier, who had been active as a 'soloist of the regional philharmonic' in Birobidzhan since last year, was arrested in early June and interrogated on charges of inciting people to 'terrorism.' The Russian media outlet Vot TaK reported that this arrest was due to the publication of anti-war videos on the musician's YouTube channel, which had only 'five followers,' and in which he had only recited poems against the war. Mr. Kushnier's death marks the second death of a prisoner in connection with the war in Ukraine within a week in Russian prisons. Alexander Ishchenko, a Ukrainian prisoner of war, also died in a detention center in Rostov before his trial. The news of this Ukrainian POW's death was published on Wednesday, but the date and cause of Mr. Ishchenko's death remain unclear. Previously, Alexei Navalny, the most prominent political opponent of Vladimir Putin, who had been sentenced to a total of 19 years in prison on multiple charges, died at the age of 47 on February 16; this suspicious death drew widespread reactions from around the world. The Russian prison service announced that Alexei Navalny died from 'a sudden fatal condition,' and the coroner responsible for his case listed the cause of death as 'natural causes.' Many believe that Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, is responsible for his death.