“Volunteers to help orphans” spoke about the harm that Berkovich’s arrest causes to her children

At the disposal of “Kommersant” was a document of the charity fund “Volunteers to help orphans”, concerning the criminal prosecution of theater director Yevgenia Berkovich. In 2021, Evgenia Berkovich turned to this foundation for comprehensive socio-psychological support for Anna and Kira, the girls who are under her care. In the document, the president of Volunteers to Help Orphans, Elena Alshanskaya, says “at the place of demand”: the change of guardians will lead to “deterioration of the emotional state of children and exacerbation of symptoms of stressful post-traumatic disorder.”

Recall that on April 10, 2022, a criminal case was opened against director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk to justify terrorism (part 2 of article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; punishment from five to seven years in prison). The reason was the content of their performance about women recruited by terrorists – “Finist Yasny Sokol”. On May 5, the court arrested the authors of the performance for two months. Since then, Mrs. Berkovich has been separated from the underage Kira and Anna, who, for health reasons, also needs adult help.

They have been under the care of Evgenia Berkovich since 2019. Prior to this, the girls changed several foster families, the foundation document says; they faced cruel treatment, which “could not but affect their psychological state.” The president of the foundation claims that “during her parenthood, Evgenia Berkovich managed to build a relationship of attachment with Anna and Kira,” and separation from her will lead children to “increased risk of psychopathology and a decrease in the ability of cognitive activity.”

On May 10, Yevgenia Berkovich appealed against the court’s decision to arrest her, and she will be considered on May 30.

The play “Finist Yasny Sokol” tells about Russian women who were recruited on the Web by radical Islamists. It was staged based on the play by Svetlana Petriychuk, which was written on the basis of real sentences and interrogation protocols. In 2022, the production won the Golden Mask award in the Best Costume Design and Best Playwright categories. The criminal case against the authors was initiated on the basis of the expertise of religious scholar Roman Silantyev.

As previously reported by Kommersant, on May 17, the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC) turned to the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, with a request to check a number of public statements by Mr. Silantiev. According to the organization, they may contain signs of inciting ethnic and religious hatred. Later, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation supported the appeal of the RJC.

More details – in the material “Kommersant” “Examination of interethnic strife”.

Polina Yachmennikova