Russia’s culture ministry has launched an inquiry into leading theatres to check their compliance with a new national security doctrine signed by President Putin, which critics have denounced as the latest state attempt to censor the arts. “A group of comrades approached us about problems with the repertoire policies of theatres, and we decided that this issue must be publicly discussed,” Mikhail Lermontov, chairman of the ministry’s public council, told the news agency Interfax. SponsoredLermontov did not announce a date for the discussion, but he told the state news agency RIA that attention would be paid by officials to “the preservation of patriotic and moral-spiritual values”. Mikhail Lermontov, chairman of the ministry’s public council, said attention would be paid to “preserving patriotic values” ALAMYThe national security doctrine was signed into law by Putin on July 3 and is widely seen as a

Source: The Times August 03, 2021 15:07 UTC