"Covered with tattoos with Soviet symbols". Lesia Samaieva named the Putinist actor from Russia who was made a star by Ukraine

Popular Ukrainian actress Lesya Samayeva has revealed shocking details about her Russian colleague Anton Batyrev, who had filmed extensively in Kyiv before the invasion and spoke harshly about Vladimir Putin but quickly changed his mind after the invasion.

In an interview with OBOZ.UA, the artist said that the man "is just covered in tattoos with portraits of Gagarin and the 'worker and collective farmer' – Soviet symbols. Like all Russians, he lives in the past mentally.

"Actor Anton Batyrev was actually made a star by Ukraine," says Lesia Samaieva. "In Moscow, no one knew about him, but they began to recognize him thanks to his paintings in Bayrak. Basically, he played all his roles here. And now this young man is covered in tattoos with portraits of Gagarin and a "worker and a collective farmer" – that is, Soviet symbols. What does he know about this? But mentally, like all Russians, he lives in the past. You know what they say: Ukrainians are the energy of life, while Russians live with the energy of death."

"And I believe that we have been diluting them very much for many years. I noticed the following feature: the Russian actors who came here were completely different than when they later filmed in Moscow. They were more well-mannered. By chance, I came across some of their Moscow roles on YouTube – a cult of alcoholism and always swearing. They rushed here with joy: they would always be paid money and made stars. Why not? But inside, I think they despised all of us because they had to adapt to an environment that was alien to them. The war revealed a lot," Samaieva added.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that Russian actor Anton Batyrev, who often starred in Ukrainian films and TV series, even thought about becoming a Ukrainian citizen before the full-scale invasion of Russia and spoke harshly about dictator Putin. His Ukrainian colleague Taras Tsymbaliuk, who once considered the actor a good friend, told this in an interview.

"On February 20, we had the last day of shooting in the project 'Fortune Teller 2' for STB," Tsymbaliuk told blogger Alina Dorotiuk on the show. The 24th is coming up. It is clear that he is immediately at the border and in Moscow. A few days pass, and he teaches Z and writes that he is proud to be Russian. That is, while he was here, he could easily speak negatively about Putin. When it all started, the person instantly "changed his shoes".

Tsymbaliuk also said that Batyrev confessed to him that he was dating a girl from Vinnytsia and was thinking about obtaining Ukrainian citizenship. "Now I have started dating a girl from Vinnytsia. I really have thoughts of changing my citizenship and moving to Kyiv," Tsymbaliuk said.

Later, Batyrev himself said in comments to the Russian media that he initially had the only correct position – he said he supported the invasion of Ukraine (as he calls it: a special operation) from day one, as evidenced by his posts on social media. The "Hurray for the Patriot" continued to film in Bayrak, now in Russia. Last fall, it became known that the Ukrainian director had fled to St. Petersburg, where she works for Russian cinema. Bayrak announced the filming of the eight-episode melodrama Rain at the End of Summer. Batyrev plays one of the main roles in the movie.

Read the full interview with Lesya Samayeva on OBOZ.UA on Saturday, April 20.

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