An artist who had been arrested over a comment has died by suicide in a pre-trial detention centre in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a city in Russia’s Far East.

In Remand Centre No. 2 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in Russia’s Far East, 53-year-old artist Andrey Akuzin has died by suicide. This was reported to Mediazona by his friend, film director Tatyana Frolova, who lives in France.

According to Frolova, Akuzin was arrested on 2 April over a comment he made in 2025. On 7 April, Akuzin turned 53, and the next day he died by suicide in his remand centre cell. His name was added to the terrorist and extremist list posthumously on 10 April. Frolova also said that Akuzin did not have a lawyer.

“He’s not a terrorist, it’s just ridiculous, he simply didn’t want to remain silent—officially, they took him in for either some like or a reply to some post,” Frolova commented.

Mediazona clarifies that one of the Telegram bots that analyses users’ public comments flagged that Akuzin was interested in “protest” and the Artpodgotovka movement, which is banned in Russia.