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The director of a museum exhibiting a painting of Russian president Vladimir Putin in women’s underwear has been arrested by police, it’s been claimed.
Tatiana Titova, of the Museum Of Power in St Petersburg, was detained at 2am local time (midnight CET) on Monday, before being released around four hours later, according to Alexander Donskoi, founder of the arts institution.
Donskoi said he had been unable to find out from police the reason for Titova’s arrest.
Last week police seized four paintings from the museum, including one entitled “Transvestites”, which depicted Putin and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev wearing a nightie and a bra.
Another picture showed Russian politician Vitali Milonov – author of the controversial law criminalising homosexual propaganda to youngsters youngsters – standing in front of a rainbow-coloured flag, a symbol of homosexuality.
Konstantin Altunin, 45, the painter behind the images, has already fled Russia and applied for asylum in France.
Altunin told reporters the idea for the “innocent” and “ironic” paintings came in September 2011, when the then-prime minister Putin announced he would swap roles with Medvedev, who was serving as president.
The museum has obtained permission to reopen its doors on Thursday , the opening day of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg.