Musician's Poetic Response to Sentencing

Actor Mikhail Efremov and his friend musician Sergey Shnurov. Image from Shnurov's Instagram account

The leader of the musical group Leningrad, Sergey Shnurov, is known not only as a musician, but also as an “Instagram poet,” for the poems he posts to his Instagram account. Recently, he posted a poem in response to the sentencing of his friend, actor Mikhail Yefremov, who was found guilty of causing a fatal accident.

The accident occurred in the beginning of June on Moscow's Smolenskaya Square. Efremov drove into the oncoming lane and hit a delivery driver, Sergei Zakharov. Zakharov received critical injuries and later died in the hospital. Yeremov’s blood workup showed evidence of alcohol and prohibited substances. Yefremov was sentenced to eight years in a general regime colony, although his defense team has announced that it will appeal the verdict.

In response to the sentencing, Shnurov posted a poem reflecting on his long friendship with Yefremov. Shnurov noted that he and Yefremov used to drink together, but that Shnurov has since changed his ways. Otherwise, Shnurov supposes that he himself could have ended up with Yefremov on the fateful night: “I could have been with you then... But I hit the brakes.”

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