Street artist Pasha P183, known as the ‘Russian Banksy,’ has died

The street artist known as the “Russian Banksy,” Pasha P183, has been found dead in Moscow, according to reports.

He was 29.

Teatralnoye Delo theatrical production company, which had commissioned the artist to create a mural for its production “Todd,” said he died Monday, the Associated Press reported. Teatralnoye Delo did not release further information.

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Pasha P183 was known for leaving artistic installations and politically fueled murals across Moscow, including riot police painted on subway doors and a masked protester holding a flare that caught fire. One of his most well-known pieces was a pair of oversized spectacles drawn in snow with a street lamp serving as the open stem.

Little was know about Pasha P183’s personal life, including his identity, although the artist filmed himself at work and gave interviews explaining his “anarchist” art.

“Put simply, I want to teach people in this country to tell lies from the truth and to tell bad from good. This is what our people still cannot do,” he told Russia Today in an on-camera interview while donning a black balaclava, the Associated Press noted.

Known as “Bankski” in Russia, Pasha P183 told the Guardian in 2012 he “never sought to emulate him or anyone else.

“I fully understand that we both have a common cause,” he said of the famed British street artist known as Banksy, adding that “I use the songs of people such as Yegor Letov and Konstantin Kinchev for inspiration -- not public figures.”

Teatralnoye Delo’s musical “Todd” is currently running in Moscow.

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