The Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale will be closed to the public.

Due to anti-Russian sanctions, the Russian pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale will be closed to the general public. This was reported on May 3 by the Corriere della Sera newspaper with reference to a document that will be sent to the Chigi Government Palace on Monday.

The biennale is scheduled to begin on May 6 with press previews.

"The lawyer of [the Biennale Foundation, Deborah] Rossi, clarifies that the opening day, which will take place from 5 to 8 May 2026, is a private invitation-only event not open to the public... Due to the current sanctions, the Russian Federation will not be able to obtain permission to open the pavilion to the public, therefore, access to it will be impossible during the opening of the exhibition to the public," the minutes of the meeting say.

The international jury of the Biennale resigned on April 30. On March 12, the press service of the European Commission told Izvestia that it officially condemns the decision of the Venice Biennale Foundation to allow the Russian delegation to participate in the festival.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on April 23 that the withdrawal of a €2 million grant from the Venice Biennale due to the decision to invite Russian representatives to the exhibition was a relapse into Western anti-culture.