Supported Ukraine but soon took off their masks: top 3 Russian stars who turned out to be Putinists

There is a tiny number of Russian stars who sincerely oppose the war and condemn their country for its terror and aggression. But even they should not be trusted because we can see that "changing shoes" is a long-standing Russian tradition, and many media personalities safely follow it.

For example, the famous Russian singer Sergei Lazarev wrote an emotional text immediately after February 24 saying that the war is terrible and must be stopped immediately. Ukrainians were quick to thank the artist for telling the truth, and he, in turn, quickly deleted the provocative statements and recanted his own words. He said, "I am Russian" and "Russia is my favorite country." The OBOZ.UA article tells about the Russian stars who initially seemed pro-Ukrainian but soon dropped their masks.

Sergey Lazarev

Since we've already started talking about the singer, we'll continue. Lazarev was loved in Ukraine. He once even performed the Ukrainian-language song "I Won't Surrender Without a Fight" by Okean Elzy. On the day of the full-scale invasion, February 24, 2022, the singer wrote an emotional text condemning the war, which he posted on his social media. "Damn, a real war has started today! What the f*ck are you doing? I'm crying like a boy right now because I'm f*cking sick of measuring ourselves in strength and weapons," Lazarev said.

The artist was quickly attacked by Z-patriots, and he, without hesitation, took over their side as if nothing had happened. Afraid of losing his comfortable life in Moscow and the opportunity to earn bloody rubles, Lazarev sang love songs to his terrorist homeland, "I am a Russian! And I have never been ashamed of it! I sincerely love Russia! It raised me as a strong personality and a famous artist who represented his country at the Eurovision Song Contest twice, defended its honor in the music arena and proudly carried the Russian flag."

Already in April 2022, Lazarev appeared on the poster of the propaganda concert "For Russia" in Lipetsk. In November, he starred in the Shaman video for the song "We Will Rise," which is considered to be inappropriate for the so-called "special operation." The Putinist also called Ukrainians "Nazis" and stated that "the Armed Forces of Ukraine are hitting schools, hospitals, and residential buildings."

Diana Arbenina

The famous Russian singer and songwriter, frontwoman of the rock band Night Snipers, Diana Arbenina was once a coach for two seasons of the Ukrainian project The Voice. By the way, so was Lazarev. Many Russian rockers, including Andrei Makarevich, Boris Grebenshchikov, Zemfira, and others, have condemned Putin's bloody regime and opposed the war. There was no doubt that Arbenina, who had been working in Ukraine for many years and is a native of Belarus, would not support Russian aggression.

That's exactly what happened. However, the singer's anti-war stance turned out to have an expiration date. In April 2022, she published the track "Don't Be Silent," making it clear that she was calling on Russians to oppose propaganda and war. Subsequently, her concerts were canceled and she was accused of "discrediting" the Russian army. Arbenina apparently faced a choice: to remain on the side of good and not betray her own principles or to act dishonorably and to become the Kremlin's mouthpiece, earning bloody rubles. The star chose the latter.

Recently, Arbenina sang together with the wife of the Russian occupier at her concert in Novosibirsk. The wife of a military man boasted on social media that she even managed to present the artist with a thematic gift, a trench candle. The woman, whose elected representative is killing Ukrainian civilians at the front, said that the Putinist was so happy with her gift that she "wanted to light it right on stage."

Roma Bilyk "The Beast"

Representatives of the once very popular Russian band Zveri, led by their frontman Roma Bilyk, wrote on their social media immediately after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, "We are against the war! Like all sane people, we are against any military action. We need to stop hostilities as soon as possible and resolve the issue exclusively at the negotiating table." The musicians' position was obvious: Bilyk had lived in Mariupol for several years. He then lived in Kyiv, where he had friends, including TV presenter Andriy Bedniakov.

As expected, citizens of the terrorist country began to block the band's airwaves in Russia. In addition to canceling the concerts, the activists also asked the prosecutor's office to check Bilyk "for his statements against the SMO and the financing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine." And suddenly, the former "oppositionist" put on a bulletproof vest with a helmet and went to the occupied Donetsk region to entertain the terrorist invaders.

It happened in August 2023. Bilyk, obviously hoping that no one would notice, quickly changed his shoes and became one of the main fans of the destructive and murderous war. The aforementioned Bedniakov, by the way, reacted sharply to his former friend's cynical act. "You always had a 'healthy' position. We could talk for a long time about Mariupol, the city that was destroyed to the ground by those for whom you and your balalaika player sang songs. What are they doing to you there? It's a mystery," the showman wrote on social media under an old photo of Bilyk.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote about actor Mikhail Yefremov, who also initially opposed the war and condemned the Putin regime, but soon changed his mind. To know what influenced the change in the position of the artist-prisoner, read our article.

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