Public figures in Russia continue to face significant pressure to openly demonstrate support for the war against Ukraine.
According to the UK Ministry of Defense on X (Twitter), Russian pop star Philipp Kirkorov visited wounded soldiers in the occupied territory of Ukraine and performed concerts. It is reported that Kirkorov was blacklisted by the Kremlin after a public scandal involving a "nearly naked" December party in Moscow.
The publication "Meduza" reported that in early February, the president's administration sent an updated "blacklist" to Russian concert promoters, effectively banning 50 artists from performing in Russia. This list included public opponents of the war alongside others, such as Kirkorov, who incurred the Kremlin's wrath for different reasons.
According to British intelligence, the repercussions of the "nearly naked" party demonstrate an increasingly prevalent presence of the war in public life.
"The Kremlin almost certainly inrenationally amplifies and exploited the scandal, seeking to portray a contrast between Russians' patriotically supporting the war effort and hedonistic "Westernised" metropolitan elite. One attendee was jailed, fined under so-caled LGBT propaganda' laws, and served with a summons to a military conscription office, the UK Ministry of Defense noted.
