Russian court sentences opera singer Maksakova, who condemns war: what she faces upon returning to Moscow

Maria Maksakova, a Russian opera singer and former State Duma deputy from the United Russia party, was sentenced in Moscow. The artist, who has been living in Ukraine since 2016, faces up to six years in prison in her home country.

A Moscow court arrested the star in absentia for so-called activities against Russia's national security, according to propagandists. Russian prosecutors opened a criminal case against Maksakova in September 2024. The case stemmed from an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel "Now," where she called on Russians to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine and also opposed a full-scale invasion, condemning Russian soldiers.

At the same time, the former MP was fined in her home country for not having the so-called "foreign agent" mark, which she was awarded in 2023. The star was forced to pay 40 thousand rubles. Before that, the Presnensky Court of Moscow fined the singer 30 thousand rubles for a similar offense.

Maria Maksakova was born into a Soviet-German family in Munich in 1977. She became an opera singer and performed in the leading opera halls of Moscow. In 2011, Maksakova ran for the State Duma as a candidate of the United Russia party.

In the spring of 2015, the artist became the wife of Denis Voronenkov, a State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and a member of the Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption. A year later, the couple had a son. However, in March 2017, Voronenkov was shot dead in the center of Kyiv. He left Russia in 2016 amid criminal prosecution on suspicion of fraud and publicly renounced his Russian citizenship.

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