Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva has sharply criticized Vladimir Putin. This is a sensation in Russia. The opposition reacted correspondingly euphorically. Pugacheva is celebrated as “Zelenskyj”.
Well-known Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva has sharply criticized Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Since the Justice Department has blacklisted her husband Maxim Galkin as a “foreign agent,” they are asking to be included among the foreign agents, the 73-year-old wrote on her Instagram account on Sunday.
“Because I am in solidarity with my husband, an honest, decent and sincere man, a real and irreplaceable patriot of Russia, who wishes his homeland prosperity, a peaceful life, freedom of speech and an end to our boys dying for illusory purposes that make our country a… pariah and make life difficult for our citizens.”
Pugacheva is considered a superstar in her homeland. She has shaped rock and pop music in Russia since the 1970s. Her success has survived the fall of the Soviet Union – with her constant TV presence she was one of the most dazzling show greats in Russia and her marriage to the 27-year-old presenter and comedian Maxim Galkin was a constant topic for the tabloid media.
After the start of the war against Ukraine, the couple left Russia for Israel. In contrast to Galkin, who criticized the Russian leadership in Israel, Pugacheva has so far held back with political statements.
All the greater is the echo that could now follow their harsh criticism of the war. The political scientist Abbas Galliamov, once speechwriter for President Vladimir Putin, spoke of a “strong slap” for the Kremlin. “If there are still important people in the country about whom there is a consensus, then of course it is Pugacheva,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. You have always left politics outside. “Their sudden politicization can create in society that feeling, which is so dangerous for the authorities, ‘that’s enough’,” he said.
The top adviser to the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said: “Putin has 3 … 2 … 1 left”. Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe newspaper, wrote on Twitter: “Alla, you are the Zelenskyy of patriarchal Russia.”
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