May 1, 2026, 4:35 p.m. ETAn Oscar statuette confiscated by airport security will be returned to its owner, Russian educator Pavel Talankin, after TSA staff determined the trophy was a safety risk.The best documentary feature category winner, who took home his first Academy Award in March for his film "Mr Nobody Against Putin," tried to bring his trophy home to Europe but was stopped at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.In an April 30 Instagram post, the film's co-director, David Borenstein, revealed Talakin's trophy had been lost, writing that a "TSA agent stopped him and said the Oscar could be used as a weapon. She wouldn’t let him carry it on board." He explained that Pavel didn’t have a checked bag where we could put the Oscar, so the TSA agent placed the trophy in a box and sent it to the bottom of the plane."It never arrived in Frankfurt," Borenstein wrote in the post. "I’ve looked and I can’t find a single other case of someone being forced to check an Oscar. Would Pavel have been treated the same way if he were a famous actor? Or a fluent English speaker?"Lufthansa Airlines replied to the post saying:
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