The creator of the Masyanya cartoons faces 6 years in prison
A criminal case has been opened against the creator of the Masyanya cartoons, saint petersburg animator Oleg Kuvayev, on charges of public actions against the security of the state.
According to the Mash Telegram channel, the reason for the case was an episode of Masyanya, which allegedly called on russian soldiers to surrender to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. If found guilty, the cartoonist faces up to 6 years in prison.
One of the episodes, entitled Sankt-Mariuburg , depicted Chinese troops bombing russian cities in order to "cleanse russia of fascists". The title is associated with the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which was almost completely destroyed during the russian invasion. The need for "denazification and demilitarisation", which were announced as the main goals of russia's military invasion of Ukraine, are also mentioned in the cartoon. At the end of the episode, the author emphasised that this war would forever be a shame for the occupiers, who would burn in hell, and that it is not about the Chinese at all.
Oleg Kuvayev stated that he was unaware of the criminal case. He claims that no one from russian law enforcement agencies has contacted him, and he has not received any official information about the start of the investigation.
However, the press service of the saint petersburg Investigation Department confirmed that a criminal case had indeed been opened against Oleg Kuvayev on charges of "public calls for activities against the security of the state."
Recall that the author of Masyanya left russia back in 2006. With the beginning of the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Oleg Kuvayev created several anti-war episodes of the cartoon, in which he criticised the actions of russian troops and president vladimir putin.