Three weeks since 'disappearance in Israel': online campaign for Russian historian
Activists have appealed to authorities in Moscow to take action to determine the fate of Artem Kirpichenok, who they say landed at Ben Gurion Airport at the beginning of the month and has since disappeared.
Activists in Russia have published a series of petitions in recent days regarding the fate of Artem Kirpichenok, a Russian historian with Israeli citizenship who, according to his associates, disappeared about three weeks ago, shortly after landing in Israel. In these petitions, the activists called on Russian authorities to show greater involvement in order to obtain details about the fate of the historian, who frequently criticizes Israel.
Details published in Russia indicate that Kirpichenok landed at Ben Gurion Airport on a flight from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on August 2, and disappeared shortly thereafter. All attempts by his associates to contact him have failed. Three days after his alleged disappearance, the Russian ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, told the Russian state agency TASS that "Russian diplomats are monitoring the situation," but there have been no official comments from Russia on the matter since. Israeli authorities have also not addressed the matter.
In recent days, the historian's associates have published several online petitions demanding that Russian authorities and international bodies attempt to discover what happened to him. One of the petitions states:
"Dr. Kirpichenok is one of the leading experts on the Middle East, researching political processes and conflicts in the region. His academic bibliography includes eight books and hundreds of articles."
Kirpichenok (51) was born in Saint Petersburg and immigrated to Israel in the 90s. He graduated from the Hebrew University and, about 15 years after his immigration, returned to live in Russia. He adopted a very critical line against the State of Israel and frequently wrote against the country and against Zionism.
