Theatre-maker and activist Yulia Tsvetkova was building a community in her hometown in Russia's far east - until she was targeted by a hostile police force. Tsvetkova ran education projects in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, as well as a youth theatre, online groups on feminism and sex education for young people. Following a police investigation, she has now been charged with “spreading pornography” for publishing drawings of vulvas online, and faces up to six years in prison as a result.
Tsvetkova’s case has drawn public support inside and outside Russia, with supporters holding demonstrations in Moscow and St Petersburg. The Memorial human rights association has declared her a political prisoner, stating that the criminal case against Tsvetkova has been provoked by her “civic activity and active feminist position… She is promoting her views in a completely legal fashion as an activist and maker of modern art.”
Anna Khodyreva, Tsvetkova’s mother, is an artist and founder of a children’s free education studio in Komsomolsk, where the two live. As repression rises in Russia, increasing attention is being paid to the role of relatives, particularly mothers, in the solidarity campaigns for political prisoners. Indeed, Tsvetkova herself noted as much in a recent interview to openDemocracy, saying: “Today there are so many invisible female political prisoners: mothers, wives - women who bear an incredible burden thanks to political trials. Political prisoners are heroes, but women are the invisible service staff.”
