A Russian megastar criticizes the war in Ukraine. What happens now?
A Russian megastar’s criticism of the war in Ukraine has set off intense reactions on social media, raising the question of whether the singer’s disapproving Instagram post might mark a turning point in Russian public opinion.
At the risk of being branded a traitor, Alla Pugacheva used her famous voice over the weekend to question the seven-month war, becoming the most prominent Russian celebrity to do so. Pugacheva’s post described her homeland, which gave her its highest civilian honors, as “a pariah” and said Russian soldiers were dying for “illusory goals.”
It was a remarkable moment that punched a hole in the Kremlin’s vigorously defended narrative of the reasons and goals of its Feb. 24 invasion of neighboring Ukraine and that threatens to undo months of carefully crafted war propaganda.
The singer, who has been arguably Russia’s most popular performer for decades, shared her thoughts as President Vladimir Putin faces mounting pressure both militarily — Ukrainian forces are recapturing strategic areas from Russian troops — and diplomatically, with even key allies voicing concerns over the global fallout from the war.
At 73, Pugacheva is as widely admired as when she burst onto Russia’s pop scene nearly half a century ago. Older Russians who grew up listening to her music form Putin’s core base and have remained largely silent about the war.
The turning point for the singer was apparently the Russian Justice Ministry’s designation of her husband, comedian and TV presenter Maxim Galkin, as a foreign agent Saturday for allegedly conducting political activities on behalf of Ukraine and receiving Ukrainian funding. Galkin had previously criticized the war.
Moscow dismisses prospects for a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine and approves efforts to bring captured regions under complete Russian control.
In an Instagram post Sunday, Pugacheva told her 3.5 million followers and others who saw her comments elsewhere that she also wanted to be added to Russia’s foreign agents register in solidarity with Galkin. Pugacheva called her husband a “true and incorruptible patriot” who wants “the end of the deaths of our boys for illusory goals that make our country a pariah and weigh heavily on the lives of its citizens.”
While some Russian public figures, including politicians, singers, actors and writers, have spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine despite the Kremlin’s attempt to stifle dissent, Pugacheva is the biggest name so far to do so.
In her long career, she has been named a People’s Artist of the USSR, awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation and decorated as a Chevalier of the Order “for merit to the fatherland.” She was regularly featured and feted on state-run TV.
The Kremlin’s chief spokesman declined to comment Monday, but Meduza, a Latvia-based Russian-language news site that Russia also has declared a foreign agent, published a roundup of reactions that included at least one official voice.
Faced with the failure of his plans, Putin likely will fall back on a tactic he has often used — inflicting pain on civilians.
The deputy chairman of Russia’s legislature, Pyotr Tolstoy, said Pugacheva “has lost touch with reality so much and is in solidarity with those who today wish Russia’s defeat.”
Tolstoy, a close Putin ally, predicted that Pugacheva “will no longer find support among decent Russian people,” adding: “We will win without her songs.”
Valery Fadeyev, the head of Putin’s Human Rights Council, accused Pugacheva of insincerely citing humanitarian concerns to justify her criticism of the nearly 7-month-old conflict. He predicted that popular artists like her would enjoy less public influence after the war.
“New faces — soldiers, doctors, military correspondents, volunteers — will be our elite,” Fadeyev wrote.
The Justice Department says a Russian operative has been charged with using political groups in the United States to advance pro-Russia propaganda.
Veteran Russian opposition activist Lev Shlosberg said the scale of the responses showed that Pugacheva’s comments touched a nerve in Russian society.
“The reaction of sympathy and direct support shows in which direction public opinion will move,” Meduza quoted Shlosberg as saying.
Veronika Belotserkovskaya, a Russian-language cookbook author and popular blogger who lives in France and has also questioned the war, thinks the singer’s criticism wasn’t meant for the masses but instead was directed at those in power.
“This is a public slap in the face. ... Everyone heard her. She speaks their language, destroying their narrative,” Belotserkovskaya said.
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Political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky, director of the National Strategy Institute, a Moscow-based think tank, went so far as to proclaim Pugacheva “the de facto leader of the antiwar part of Russian society.”
It’s not clear what legal repercussions Pugacheva might face. Putin on March 4 signed legislation allowing for jail terms of up to 15 years for posting allegedly false information about the military.
If the Russian government grants her wish to declare her a foreign agent, the singer would have to include the label prominently on her social media content and be subject to other financial and bureaucratic requirements.
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