The chief director of the Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater Yevgeny Lavrenchuk, taken into custody by the Italian authorities, was arrested in absentia by a court in Moscow on charges of major fraud. This was announced on Monday, January 3, at the Tagansky District Court.
“The Tagansky Court of Moscow granted the request of the investigation for the arrest in absentia of Yevgeny Viktorovich Lavrenchuk, accused under Part 3 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Fraud on a large scale), ”the court said, without specifying what claims were being made against the Ukrainian cultural figure. The decision to arrest in absentia was made in July 2020.
According to the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko, Lavrenchuk was detained in Naples on December 17.
With the assistance of the Consulate General of Ukraine in Italy, the director was provided with a lawyer. At the time of consideration of the request of the Russian side, Lavrenchuk will be in custody.
“Consuls and a lawyer interact with Italian law enforcement agencies to find out all the reasons for the detention and protection of Lavrenchuk’s legitimate interests,” Nikolenko said.
The Free Eugene Lavrenchuk Facebook page claims that the Russian Federation is demanding the extradition of the director in a case of crimes eight years ago.