Russian Actor Who Starred in Video About Chocolate Claims to Have Been Assaulted

​Moscow actor Yegor Kulikov departed Russia following the onset of mobilization, relocating to Almaty, Kazakhstan.

There, he participated in a video highlighting Kazakh chocolate. In the video's narrative, a Russian newcomer encounters a horseman at Kazakhstan's border who offers him chocolate with the "taste of freedom," Orda.kz reports.​

In an interview with TV2media, Kulikov recounted that his involvement in the video led to threats, detention, and physical assault upon his return to Russia.​

In Almaty, I starred in a video for Kazakh chocolate. I showed how I, a person fleeing Russia, ended up in Kazakhstan. And a horseman on a horse gives me a chocolate bar and says: 'Try the taste of freedom.' And in this way, I'm not exactly putting Russia in a bad light, but I'm showing that there is not much freedom in Russia. The video went viral, ended up in many public groups. And, perhaps, I was noticed,Kulikov explained.​ 

He further detailed that after returning to Moscow for work, he was detained by police following a filming session. At the station, officers questioned him about "telling lies."​

They told me clearly that you can't do that, that it's wrong, you can't say that. Otherwise there will be consequences. After that, they let me go, and not far from the station, people in civilian clothes beat me up. I ended up in the hospital with bruises. I survived, but they beat me up badly,the actor recounted.​ 

Kulikov noted that after his hospital release, authorities searched his residence and informed him he was prohibited from leaving Russia. Despite this, he managed to depart the country the same day.​

The agency responsible for producing the chocolate video emphasized on social media that the project was not an official advertisement and was intended solely for entertainment purposes.

Original Author: Oksana Matvienko