Laima Vaikule's Clip in Ukrainian, Filmed in Jurmala, Provoked Outrage from Both Sides of the Conflict 0 5

All of the work of singer and actress Laima Vaikule should be banned on the territory of Russia, believes Mikhail Ivanov, a deputy of the Bryansk Regional Duma and chairman of the "Russia Orthodox" movement. In a conversation with NEWS.ru, he stated that the artist has shown sacrilege by performing a song in Ukrainian.

Ivanov described Vaikule's appearance in an advertisement for the trading company "ATB-Market," where she performed the song "Shchedryk" in Ukrainian, as a cynical gesture towards those who "unleashed a war against Russian culture and the entire Russian world." According to him, this is an overt political statement that undermines traditional Russian values.

The Bryansk parliamentarian believes that the artist, who was long popular in Russia, offends millions of Russian citizens.

"One cannot allow a person who has publicly betrayed their audience and sided with unfriendly forces to continue to benefit from the Russian field. The sale of recordings and any use of her work on the territory of Russia should be immediately stopped," Ivanov said.

All the funds that Vaikule earned in Russia should be frozen and directed "to a good cause," the deputy is convinced. He noted that they should primarily be transferred to support the military personnel participating in the special operation.

After the start of large-scale hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022, Laima Vaikule publicly criticized Russia's actions. In August of the same year, she took the stage with a Ukrainian flag at a concert in Lithuania. At that time, she expressed support for Kyiv and stated that she was in solidarity with the EU's position on the Moscow-Kyiv conflict.

At the end of November, "ATB-Market" released a New Year's advertisement featuring Vaikule performing the song "Shchedryk" in Ukrainian. After the video was published, the artist faced criticism on social media from Ukrainian users.

According to a publication by "RBK-Ukraine," the outrage was caused by the fact that the face of the advertising campaign was not a Ukrainian artist, but Vaikule, who for many years "created a Russian-language cultural product" and closely interacted with the Russian pop scene.

"Are we going to discuss this trash from ATB somehow? Why not Galkin and Pugacheva?" the publication quotes.

Earlier, Ivanov proposed to direct the income of singer Alla Pugacheva to the needs of Russian soldiers. This initiative came amid the artist's statements about Dzhokhar Dudayev as a "decent, respectable, intelligent person." Her words, according to SHOT, became a reason for an investigation under the article on justifying terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code).