Oleg Vorotnikov

He is a former member of the art group "War".

On the morning of 15 November 2010, the rented flat in Moscow, where the members of the group lived, was searched by operatives of the Central Investigation Department from St. Petersburg, people there were sent to the Begovoy police station, and Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolaev were taken to St. Petersburg. They were put bags over their heads and were subjected to physical abuse by police officers, which left the detainees with signs of beating. On 16 November the detainees were taken to the St. Petersburg temporary detention centre. On 17 November during the preventive measure trial it was decided to keep them in custody for two months. The reason for the prosecution was the "Palace Coup" action near Mikhailovsky Castle, during which several police cars were overturned.

On 24 November 2010 Vorotnikov and Nikolayev were charged under paragraph "b" part 1 of Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Hooliganism, i.e. gross violation of public order, expressing obvious disrespect for society, committed on the grounds of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity or on the grounds of hatred or enmity towards a social group"), which was reclassified on 21 December to p. "b" part 1, part 2 of article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, i.e. hooliganism committed by a group of persons. On 21 February 2011, Dzerzhinsky District Court decided to release Vorotnikov on bail of 300 thousand rubles. On 24 February, the required bail was paid and the artist was released from the pre-trial detention centre.

On 14 April 2011, it became known that a case was opened against Oleg Vorotnikov, a member of the art group "War", on the grounds of crimes under paragraph "b" part 1 of article 213 (hooliganism motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on the grounds of hatred or enmity against a social group), article 319 (public insult of a representative of the authorities in the performance of his official duties or in connection with their execution) and part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (use of force in the exercise of his official duties) and part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (use of force in the exercise of his official duties). Article 318 of the Criminal Code (use of violence not dangerous to life or health or threat of violence against an official or his relatives in connection with the performance of his official duties). According to the investigation, on the evening of 31 March 2011, during an unauthorized rally on Nevsky Prospekt, Vorotnikov tore off the uniform caps of several police officers and threw them on the roadway, and then hit one of the policemen twice on the head; then he jumped on the bonnet of the official car of the Department of Internal Affairs and damaged the rear-view mirror, after which he was detained by police officers.

In June 2011, the two cases were merged. On 11 October 2011, the "Palace Coup" case was closed, but in November it was reopened at the request of the prosecutor's office.

Shortly after the initiation of the second case Vorotnikov left the country.

In the summer of 2014, it was reported that Vorotnikov was awaiting a decision on extradition on his own recognisance in Venice.