In February, a vigilante group called “Christian State — Holy Russia” sent a letter to dozens of cinema managers, saying “cinemas would burn, maybe people will even suffer” if the film was shown.
In comments to the BBC’s Russian service on Thursday, Uchitel said authorities had ignored repeated calls to take action in response to the intimidation.
“This looks like the result of those earlier threats,” he said. “Today is both Mathilde Kschessinska’s birthday, and mine. I think these are not simple coincidences.”