Alla Pugacheva, queen of Soviet pop, attacks Putin’s war in Ukraine
- Pugacheva, 73, a Soviet and post-Soviet icon and probably Russia’s most famous woman, also requested Russia class her as a ‘foreign agent’
- Her husband, TV comedian Maxim Galkin, was included on the state’s list on September 16; ‘I am in solidarity with my husband’, said the singer
Alla Pugacheva, the queen of Soviet pop music, on Sunday denounced President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine which she said was killing soldiers for illusory aims, burdening ordinary people and turning Russia into a global pariah.
Since the February 24 invasion, Russia has cracked down on dissent, with fines for artists who make anti-war comments. State TV casts critics as traitors to the motherland.
Pugacheva, 73, a Soviet and then post-Soviet icon who is probably Russia’s most famous woman, requested Russia also class her as a “foreign agent” after her husband, 46-year-old TV comedian Maxim Galkin, was on September 16 included on the state’s list.
“I ask you to include me among the ranks of foreign agents of my beloved country because I am in solidarity with my husband,” Pugacheva said on Instagram which is banned in Russia.
Pugacheva said her husband was a patriot who wanted a prosperous country with peace, freedom and an “end to the death of our boys for illusory aims”.
Russia, Pugacheva said, was becoming a “pariah” while the lives of Russians were being drained by the conflict. She did not use the word war but made clear her disapproval of what the Kremlin calls a special military operation.