From: Kyiv Independent by Kate Tsurkan
More than three years into Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, many Western cultural institutions that had distanced themselves from Russian artists as a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine are now reversing course.
The U.K.’s Royal Ballet and Opera House announced on June 23 that its 2025-2026 cinema season, which is screened across 1,500 cinemas around the world, will kick off in early October with a performance of “Tosca” starring Russian soprano opera singer Anna Netrebko.
Once a leading figure in the opera world, Netrebko saw her performances canceled after 2022, following a history of remarks where she praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and defended Russian imperialism.
Though she issued a statement condemning the full-scale invasion that year, Netrebko has stopped short of ever directly criticizing Putin, who granted her Russia’s highest artistic honor — the title of People’s Artist — in 2008.
“Anna Netrebko is, without a doubt, one of the most prominent and influential figures in the world of opera. That is precisely why the Putin regime elevated her — like other Russian artists — onto its cultural shield,” Ukrainian soprano opera singer Sofia Soloviy told the Kyiv Independent.
Voice of Ukraine 