Press Release, 30.06.2025

Photo: Mosaic panel in the Izhstal Ice Palace building / Photo from social media

One of the rare monuments of 1970s mosaic art – a mosaic panel possessing artistic and historical value – was situated in the foyer of the Izhstal Ice Palace building in Izhevsk, Udmurtia. Despite assurances from Udmurtia’s Minister of Physical Culture and Sports Denis Parakhin about preservation of the panel, it was demolished. Leader of Udmurtia Yabloko Iya Boronina has filed a complaint with the regional public prosecutor’s office about the minister’s inaction regarding the preservation of the mosaic panel, as well as about the legality of the destruction of the mosaic.

At the end of March, member of the Regional Bureau of the Udmurtia branch of Yabloko Elizaveta Khusnutdinova sent an appeal to Udmurtia’s Ministry of Sports with the aim of preserving the panel located in a building under the ministry’s jurisdiction. The Ministry of Sports’ response, signed by Minister Denis Parakhin, stated that the department was ready to consider the question of preserving the mosaic and requested a cost calculation for restoration work. In subsequent correspondence between the minister and Elizaveta Khusnutdinova, the calculation was provided to the minister.

Meanwhile, in violation of the obligations given the public in the official response from Udmurtia’s Ministry of Sports, the mosaic panel was destroyed without warning, about which Minister Parakhin notified Elizaveta Khusnutdinova after the fact by telephone call on 23 June.

Thus, the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports did not notify the applicant and interested citizens that the mosaic panel would be destroyed, did not offer citizens an alternative preservation option, did not provide the opportunity for professional dismantling, and did not independently send an appeal to the regional body for the protection of cultural heritage objects in Udmurtia with the aim of preserving the decorative and applied art object.

It should also be noted that in May Elizaveta Khusnutdinova sent an appeal to the Agency for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects of Udmurtia with the aim of preserving the mosaic panel and including this work of monumental art in the list of cultural heritage objects of regional significance, in order to protect it from destruction.

The Agency did not consider the appeal on its merits on formal grounds. Chair of Udmurtia Yabloko Iya Boronina appealed the refusal to the republican public prosecutor’s office. The supervisory body’s investigation was conducted incompletely and non-objectively, in connection with which Boronina was forced to turn to the Office of the Public Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. In parallel, an appeal was submitted to the Government of Udmurtia with the aim of preserving the panel. The Government redirected the appeal back to the Agency, whose response is being appealed.

Thus, today Udmurtia Yabloko is appealing to the Office of the Public Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation the Agency’s refusal to consider the appeal, and has submitted an appeal to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Udmurtia requesting a legal assessment of the legality of the destruction (dismantling) of the mosaic panel, a legal assessment of the actions/inaction of Minister of Physical Culture and Sports Denis Parakhin regarding taking all possible measures to preserve the decorative and applied art object; a legal assessment of the inaction of officials of the Government of Udmurtia and the administration of Izhevsk regarding taking all possible measures to preserve the unique panel; with a request to take prosecutorial response measures against identified guilty officials.

Iya Boronina comments on the situation with the Ministry of Sports’ work in Udmurtia:

“Let me remind you how things stand overall in institutions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Republic of Udmurtia:

– Until recently, premises in the building of the children’s sports school of Olympic reserve for alpine skiing and snowboarding SK “Chekeril” were rented out for banquets (until public prosecutor intervention following an appeal from Udmurtia Yabloko), whilst the Ministry does not allocate funds to the children’s sports school for purchasing sports equipment and gear.

– The only state tennis courts in Izhevsk have been sold to commercial structures (the decision on alienation was made with participation of current Sports Minister Denis Parakhin, following an appeal from Udmurtia Yabloko, a public prosecutor’s investigation into the legality of the alienation is being conducted).

– Land under the republican-significance Zenit stadium is being sold off for development with apartment blocks.

Meanwhile, according to Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1014 dated 28.11.2024 “On evaluating the effectiveness of activities of senior officials of RF subjects and activities of executive bodies of RF subjects”, the list of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of activities of senior officials of RF subjects and activities of executive bodies of RF subjects includes “citizens satisfaction with conditions for physical culture and sports activities”.

Thus, the “outstanding” achievements of officials of the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Republic of Udmurtia not only reduce the level of citizen trust in government bodies, but also affect the rating of Udmurtia’s senior official in the federal centre.”