September 30, 2024

"Prison Doll" Artist Sentenced


"Prison Doll" Artist Sentenced
The doll depicting the eight-pointed star, a symbol of "Prisoner Unity." Instagram, Vasily Slonov

An artist in Krasnoyarsk has been sentenced to a year of correctional labor for painting Soviet prison tattoos on baby dolls. His sentence also includes 15% of his annual salary being garnished to the government. 

Vasily Slonov was charged with "demonstrating the symbols of an extremist organization" with his art, which involved inking a common doll for children with distinctive prison tattoos, including a barbed wire fence, a guard tower, and an eight-pointed-star. The star in particular is a symbol associated with the A.U.E., or "Prisoner's Criminal Unity," an organized crime group that is classified as extremist by the Russian government. Prosecutors originally asked for two years of forced labor. Slonov's current sentence will allow him to continue to live at home. 

Slonov was arrested in February 2024 for an exhibit that included the dolls and that was photographed and posted on VKontakte. This, according to investigators, constitutes "repeated demonstration of extremist symbols."

The doll is part of a series of dolls painted by Slonov "as the study and reflection of the diversity of modern world culture in the iconographic form of the nevalyashka ['tumbling'] doll." 

You Might Also Like

A Psychiatric Punishment
  • May 29, 2024

A Psychiatric Punishment

Individuals involved in political cases are now five times more likely to be sent to psychiatric hospitals for compulsory treatment.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955