Baza: a new criminal case has been opened against the creator of “Masyanya”

A new criminal case has been opened against 58-year-old animator Oleg Kuvaev, the creator of “Masyanya,” reports Baza, without naming the source of its information.

According to the outlet, Kuvaev is accused of evading the obligations of a “foreign agent” (Article 330.1 of the Russian Criminal Code). Previously, he was fined three times by the courts on administrative charges of failing to meet the requirements of a “foreign agent” because of not submitting reports to the Ministry of Justice (Part 2, Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences), and once more for not labelling publications as those of a “foreign agent” (Part 4, Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

Kuvaev was listed as a “foreign agent” in December 2023.

Around the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs put the animator on a wanted list. The Telegram channel “Mash na Moyke” reported that in autumn 2023, a case was opened against Kuvaev for calling for actions directed against state security (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code). According to the channel, the grounds for the prosecution were one of the episodes of “Masyanya,” in which the main character urges Russian soldiers to surrender using the “I Want to Live” project, created with the support of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence and Main Intelligence Directorate.

• Kuvaev lives in Israel. After the invasion of Ukraine, he condemned the actions of the Russian military and repeatedly raised the topic of the war in the animated series. In March 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked the “Masyanya” website. This happened after the release of the episode “Wakizashi”. In this episode, the main characters hide a friend of Ukrainian origin from the security forces, discuss civilian casualties in Ukraine, and compare Putin to Hitler. At the end of the episode, Masyanya comes to Putin’s bunker with a Japanese wakizashi sword and suggests he commit harakiri.