The world of Russian entertainment is also no stranger to the conflict in Ukraine. Last year there were artists who left Russia, others who refused to dance with the "Z" and to go on stage with patriotic symbols and there were those who saw their performances suspended to criticize official policy. In Russia, only those aligned with the Kremlin are guaranteed their performance. Outside of Russia, the situation is different, since in very close “friendly” countries, in Central Asia, they have canceled concerts by both Kremlin-supporting artists and others who have condemned the war.
It should come as no surprise that rapper Alixer Morgenxtern, declared a "foreign agent" by Russia in May 2022, was prevented from performing in Kyrgyzstan. However, in neighboring Kazakhstan, Grigori Leps, who openly defends Russian intervention in Ukraine and is sanctioned by the European Union.
Morgenxtern, 25, born Alixer Valéiev, was due to perform at the Alga music festival in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, on June 23. But the country's Government opposed it. The Deputy Minister of Culture, Txinguiz Essengul, said in a letter that it was incompatible with the traditions and moral values of the country.
The case of the rapper, immensely popular in Russia, reached the parliament of the small Central Asian republic, Kloop.kz reports. "You are allowing people like him to enter Kyrgyzstan. He looks like a devil, with all those tattoos all over his body. You need money. But don't they miss the youth of Kyrgyzstan?” MP Shailoobek Atazov told officials of the Ministry of Culture. The parliamentarian assured that it "corrupts society" and is a "bad influence" for the youth.
Accused in Russia of selling narcotics, charges that his lawyers have denied, the rapper left at the end of 2021 and currently lives in the United Arab Emirates.
Days earlier, the authorities of Bishkek canceled the performance of the well-known Russian punk band Pornofilmy. Criticism of Russia's intervention in Ukraine, the band has settled in Georgia. Their leader, Oleksandr Rusakov, has said he suspects they were not allowed to act because of pressure from Moscow.
In Kazakhstan, the most important country in the region by area and economic weight, it was pressure from activists and the public that thwarted a concert in Qonaev by singer-songwriter Grigori Leps (real name Lepsveridze), 60 years old. One of the best-known voices of Russian song was to take the stage on July 8. But the pressure on the networks against the organizers for bringing an artist who supports the military conflict in Ukraine ended up forcing them to cancel the concert.
In June, Leps and fellow singer Nikolai Bassov promised Russian soldiers one million rubles (10,000 euros) for each Western tank destroyed in Ukraine.
In March, he had to participate in the music festival Zhará (heat, in Russian), with the presence of around 30 pro-Putin artists. The Government of Astana canceled the concert due to the "unstable situation in the world".
This festival had previously been canceled in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, in the Caucasus and in Uzbekistan, where it was scheduled to take place in its capital, Tashkent, on May 20 and 21.
The former Soviet republics of Central Asia remain in the sphere of influence and in alliances with Moscow. This week, the leaders of four of these, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, participated in the virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is led by Russia and China. Kazakhstan benefited in January 2022 from its membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance under the baton of Russia, as the latter sent an armed contingent to suppress anti-government uprisings.
Even so, the Kazakh president, Kassim-Djomart Tokayev, has been able to tell the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to his face and in public, that he does not agree. At last year's St. Petersburg Economic Forum, he assured the head of the Kremlin that his country considered Donetsk and Luhansk part of Ukraine.
