Mikhail Baryshnikov against sanctions against Russian artists and sportsmen. “The very word ‘russian’ has become toxic”

– Open exchange in art is always a good thing – Baryshnikov. – I do not think it is right to shift the burden of a country’s political decisions onto the backs of artists or athletes who may have vulnerable family members in the country. For those in these exposed positions, neutrality is a strong statement. And if you want me to be specific, Daniil Medvedev (tennis player, ATP ranking letter – ed.) Should play at Wimbledon – added the dancer.

Mikhail Baryshnikov appeals to Russians abroad not to remain idle

Baryshnikov also said he was concerned that Russia would soon prevent young people from having any positive future. – At the moment it is up to Russia to cross the Rubicon. Either she will find a way to end the current conflict and live in an open, global society, or she will be pushed back with no hope of healing, he said.

The 74-year-old Baryshnikov was born in Riga (today the territory of Latvia). In 1974, he fled from the USSR to Canada. Together with other artists critical of the Kremlin, he launched the True Russia campaign on GoFundMe, aimed at spreading a better understanding of Russian culture and raising money to help refugees.

These activities are also involved, inter alia, the Russian writer Boris Akunin and the leading Russian economist Sergei Guriev. Together, they appealed to other Russians in exile, saying that they “have no right to remain idle”. In a statement about True Russia, they write:

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have lost their homes, livelihoods, relatives and even lives are bearing the brunt of the blow. But all of us who speak Russian and belong to the Russian cultural world also feel a blow. The very word ‘Russian’ has become toxic.

Baryshnikov, who lives in New York, said that every famous Russian now has to make a choice. – It is an individual decision of each artist whether he decides to comment or not. For my part, I would like to quote His Holiness Pope Francis: “War is madness! Stop it, please! Look at this atrocity!” It is clear to me who these words are intended for. Put simply, Russia has already returned to the times of Stalin – he said.

Conductor Valery Gergiev and opera soprano Anna Netrebko were among those who lost their prestigious job in the West because of their ties to the regime of Vladimir Putin.

Help Ukraine, join the collection. You deposit money on the website

Many artists support Putin. Nikita Mikhalkov flew away: Weapons against Russia are spread by birds

Many Russian artists publicly opposed the attack on Ukraine. Among them are, among others , popular or has been associated with Ukraine for many years.

However, there are also many who support Vladimir Putin’s policy and Russia’s aggression towards its neighbor. Oscar winner Nikita Mikhalkov is one of the more recent examples. The filmmaker has been supporting the Kremlin’s activities for years, even in 2000 he signed a letter supporting the president’s policy regarding the then conflict in Chechnya, and in 2014 he supported the Russian annexation of Crimea. Now he was going to rave in an interview with the state television Zvezda that Ukraine had developed a biological weapon that was designed to “exterminate Slavic ethnicity” and that could be spread by birds.

The world-famous Russian pianist Boris Bierezowski was also politically involved in a Russian television program. The musician argued that it was the west that caused the war in Ukraine and suggested that Kyiv should be cut off from electricity. .