Rostov artist has been under “carousel arrests” since February. He reported torture

Rostov artist has been under “carousel arrests” since February. He reported torture

63-year-old Viktor Kirman, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia, has been arrested nine times on administrative charges under various pretexts. His daughter Nelli Kirman, who now lives in Ukraine, told OVD-Info this.

▶️ “Carousel arrests”

The artist was detained on February 26. Security forces searched his home and took all of his equipment and documents.

The next day, Kirman was arrested for 10 days under the article on disobeying the police. He allegedly refused to show his passport to patrol officers and tried to run away from them. Kirman did not admit guilt and said that he presented his documents at the first request, and that he could not run away because he has difficulty walking due to problems with his sciatic nerve.

Since then, courts in Rostov-on-Don, Aksay, and Novocherkassk have issued eight more rulings ordering arrests in administrative cases on charges of disobeying the police and petty hooliganism.

The last time Kirman was arrested was on May 17: he was given another 10 days.

In detention he has become severely weakened, and he has also developed inflammation of the jaw.

▶️ Torture

The artist told relatives that during interrogations he was beaten, tortured with electric shocks, and doused with water to simulate drowning.

It is unclear what exactly the security forces are trying to charge Kirman with. At first they questioned him about certain posts and articles found on his computer.

“The investigation is trying to interpret these private texts as some kind of ‘anti-state activity’,” his daughter says.

Then they demanded that he sign certain papers, but Kirman refused.

The artist’s daughter says the security forces are trying to use her father’s Ukrainian origin “as a pretext for creating the image of an ‘enemy’.”

“For 80 days he has not been charged with a single criminal offense. This confirms that there is no real evidence of any guilt. The officers are using the ‘arrest carousel’ to break a person morally and physically in conditions of total isolation,” she adds.

What Viktor Kirman is known for

Kirman is originally from Kirovohrad Oblast and at different times lived and worked in Ukraine. He graduated from the art and graphics faculty of Rostov Pedagogical University, and later taught at the Department of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design at Southern Federal University.

Over the years, Kirman restored exhibits from Russian and Ukrainian museums. He also had his own studio in Rostov-on-Don, where he held painting master classes for adults and children.

In the 2010s, with the support of the Rostov Regional Ukrainian National-Cultural Autonomy, Kirman and his daughter held exhibitions in cities of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. In 2015, Nelli Kirman held an anti-war exhibition in Rostov. She then continued her creative work in Ukraine.

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Viktor Kirman / Photo from the family archive