Living in Russia, pitying the occupiers: what's wrong with Yuri Shevchuk from DDT band, who wants to sit on two chairs

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, musician and leader of the rock band DDT Yuri Shevchuk has been unable to decide whether he is a liberal Russian or a Putinist. He sings anti-war songs, but at the same time feels sorry for the "boys in the trenches."

At first, the artist pretended to be an oppositionist and talked about a "new Russia" with a different government, supported Ukraine, called for an end to the war, and "discredited" the Russian army. However, now he is probably tired and has agreed to the conditions of life in Russia without activism. OBOZ.UA decided to recall how Yuri Shevchuk tried to sit on two chairs and is still doing so.

Even before the full-scale invasion, he called the war started by Russia a tragedy. At the same time, the singer told us how much he sympathized with Ukrainians and how much he grieved.

"I thought I would go crazy from this tragedy: Russia – Ukraine. It's a disaster. I'm trying to do something, but to see the general helplessness of the world before entering this new 'historical arena'... it's sad. And these leaden curtains have not yet been pulled apart. So I stopped "sparkling with my intellect". I realized that I had to go through it all, dig through my soul and find some answers to the damned questions," he said until 2019.

The singer did not keep silent about his political position then and now. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, Shevchuk published a so-called explanatory note on social media, where he stated that he did not support the war: "I am Yuri Shevchuk and the DDT band are against the war! Peace to the world!"

In May, he made a loud political speech at a concert where he mentioned Ukraine. Before saying that the homeland is not the president's ass to be kissed, the singer reminded his fans that Russian soldiers and the Ukrainian civilians they kill are dying for nothing in an independent state.

But the Russians did not ignore this incident, and the very next day, security forces had a serious conversation with the DDT leader and drew up a report against him. The vocalist was one step away from being imprisoned for his anti-Putin activities, but fortunately, everything ended up being a conversation that lasted an hour behind the scenes.

After this incident, the artist almost stopped commenting on the war and criticizing the authorities, but he occasionally shared eloquent phrases. At that time, the career of his band DDT was in the balance, as concerts in Russia were canceled en masse.

"Our concert activity in Russia is coming to an end. Lists are being drawn up, and I don't like it. People have the right to their own opinions. In Tyumen, the concerts were postponed until better times, and in Kurgan, they were canceled altogether. Some say they can't return the money – it's a lie, a lie!" Shevchuk said.

He then began to talk about his friends at the front who are "against the war" but for some reason are fighting against Ukrainians and are ready to kill people.

"None of them was some kind of beast in any conflict, they all said to me: 'I served my homeland, no one else,'" the artist said at the time. Instead, the "service to the homeland" he mentioned is the same order to kill civilians and soldiers of another country, and this applies not only to Ukraine but also to any other state against which the Russians have decided to fight.

One of his last expressions of opposition was the song "News," which allegedly mocks the propaganda nonsense that people in the terrorist country are fed to support the Kremlin and its leader.

After the incident with "freedom of speech" at the concert and the subsequent harsh conversation with the security forces, Russians began to believe that Yuri Shevchuk had fled abroad and was writing new songs, such as "News," from there. However, the other day, music critic Artemiy Troitsky, who is considered a foreign agent in his homeland, said that the vocalist now lives in St. Petersburg.

He also suggested that Shevchuk has not yet been jailed because of his opposition only because of fear of authority: "They are afraid to touch him. He is too authoritative. And he has authority not only among radical youth, whom neither the president nor his administration cares about. He is very popular among the military and among war veterans, both in Afghanistan and Chechnya... It would be ridiculous to call such a person a traitor to the homeland."

The other day, Yuri Shevchuk gave an interview in which he spoke openly about his political preferences, criticized the Kremlin, talked about a "good future" for Russia with another successful one, and about the pity of "guys in the trenches." The artist also hinted that Russians need to come to terms with the current government because it cannot be changed.

"They are used to calling our government their homeland. Our government has called itself a homeland. This is wrong. Our government is not a homeland. These guys will die in 10-20 years, but their homeland will remain. So, the homeland is not the government. Homeland is not the security forces. It's not our generals, admirals, journalists, or propagandists. And all of this will disappear, and all of this will disappear, but the homeland will remain," he summarized.

At the same time, Shevchuk was still completely banned from giving concerts in Russia, so the vocalist began to praise Russian artists, saying only good things about fellow Putinists, such as SHAMAN. "They decided to sing, and I decided to be silent," Shevchuk commented on the ban on singing in public.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!