Artem Kamardin in prison was assigned to dismantle old gas masks

Artem Kamardin, the poet and figure in the “Mayakovsky case”, was assigned in prison to dismantle and dispose of old Soviet gas masks, his wife Alexandra Popova said. According to her, the conditions in this area are noticeably harsher than in work with metal or plastic.

During the dismantling of gas masks, a large amount of coal dust rises into the air. Kamardin reported that after the shift, the prisoners return from work as if their eyes had been lined with mascara.

They are not provided with respirators or other personal protective equipment. Old gas masks and their filtering elements are classified as potentially hazardous waste.

Such waste may contain toxic substances, heavy metals, and asbestos, and working with it requires compliance with special safety rules and the appropriate license.

Artem Kamardin was detained after the dispersal of the “Mayakovsky Readings” in Moscow in September 2022. In 2023, he and Yegor Shtovba were sentenced to 7.5 years in prison and found guilty of inciting hatred or enmity toward “volunteers of the LPR and DPR” and of calls directed against state security. After his detention, Kamardin was beaten and raped with a dumbbell, and in prison his mental and physical health began to deteriorate.

Sources

• Material: t.me