Russian ‘memorial collage’ in Limassol still vague

Reuters has picked up a story in Cyprus where a “memorial collage” posted in public view in Limassol depicted nine Russian antiwar activists, with Cypriot police saying none of them wished to give a deposition except the person who filed the original complaint in late July.

Cyprus, an ethnically-split island still featuring the world’s last divided capital, has been a divided home to both Russian and Ukrainian nationals including anti-war activists spanning both nations.

Between pro-Moscow and pro-Kiev demonstrations taking place regularly on the island, one late July photo exhibit of children killed in Donbas since 2014 drew media attention as well as police escort at the southern town’s seafront area.

A few days later a poster appeared mounted on an empty section of a tourism board at the Molos promenade, showing images of nine people -six males and three females- widely thought to be Putin critics or against the war in Ukraine, with full names included and a black ribbon painted across the lower section in each photo.

Russian activist Mikhail Savostin, an entrepreneur based in Cyprus and a staunch Putin critic who filed the complaint, said he perceived the poster as a threat to his life.

“I will not be surprised if something happens to me, I have been in the past repeatedly threatened by officials and police in the Stavropol region,” said Savostin, whose asylum case is still pending in Cyprus.

It was unclear whether security camera footage was being sought by police, but an official said the investigation was still ongoing. He also said after the initial complaint they sought a number of other individuals depicted in the picture and “none of them wanted to come forward with filing a report.”

But Friday’s Reuters news article “Russian anti-war protesters in Cyprus defiant after 'memorial collage' threat” quoted another person reportedly shown in the collage, Evgeni Elesin, who said the poster was “a memorial for people.”

“In Russia it’s very common to make threats like this," he told Reuters.

The story also featured another protester, Kristina Finck, who believed “the people who did it do not have good intentions.”

"My friends from the Russian community sent me the photos," she was quoted as saying, adding “it was like a threat.”

Police told Knews on Friday they were treating the case as a violation of privacy following a complaint filed by one of the individuals depicted in the collage, adding there was no new information as to who might have posted the sign.