Russian singer Alla Pugacheva has denounced the conflict in Ukraine, saying the soldiers are dying "for illusory goals", at a time when the Kremlin represses any criticism. (File photo). Photo: AFP/ Natalia Kolesnikova
One of Russia's most popular singers, Alla Pugacheva, has called on Russian authorities to declare her a "foreign agent", in solidarity with her strongly anti-war husband Maxim Galkin.
A showbiz star too, he was labelled a "foreign agent" on Friday after condemning Russia's attack on Ukraine.
On social media Pugacheva called her husband "a true incorruptible Russian patriot, who wants ... an end to our lads dying for illusory aims".
She has been a big star for decades.
She said the Kremlin's "illusory aims" in Ukraine "make our country a pariah and the lives of our citizens extremely difficult".
Galkin, a comedian, TV presenter and singer, wanted "prosperity for his motherland, peace, free speech", she added.
Then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin applauding after awarding Russian pop star Alla Pugacheva the Merit for Fatherland order in the Kremlin in 1999. Photo: AFP
The label "foreign agent" has been applied by the Russian government to various media organisations, campaign groups and individuals openly critical of Kremlin policies.
Pugacheva and Galkin went to Israel in late March, a month after the Russian invasion, and Pugacheva returned to Russia late last month with her children.
In early September President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of Galkin: "Our paths have clearly diverged - he has made very bad statements."
Galkin condemned Russian troops' alleged atrocities and said there could be no justification for the Ukraine invasion.
Artemy Troitsky, a leading figure in Russian music who left the country in 2014 because of his opposition to Vladimir Putin and now lives in Estonia, told the BBC that Pugacheva's intervention was significant.
"Alla Pugacheva is the biggest pop star in Russia in the past almost 50 years," he said.
"Her fame is monumental and she's a legendary figure. I think this is something that many people have expected her to do some time ago because her husband, Maxim Galkin, he's made his anti-war statements already many times and several months ago.
"I think this is her first ever strong political statement and this in itself, of course, is quite shocking for the people in Russia. I think she's not the only one who may turn the public opinion. The obvious wrongdoings of the Russian army and the offensive of the Ukrainian army and the worsening economic situation and so on, all those factors they work against Putin and against the war.
"But I think that morally and emotionally this statement of Alla Pugacheva is maybe one of the most strong efforts in these directions."
Russia says it is fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine - a claim widely dismissed - and that it is threatened by the NATO alliance's strong relations with Ukraine.
Since the invasion on 24 February, the UN has recorded at least 5718 civilian deaths, with 8199 injured, and more than seven million Ukrainians have been recorded as refugees across Europe.
The actual civilian death toll is believed to be thousands higher. Tens of thousands of combatants have been killed or injured.
Russia, a global energy supplier, is locked in an economic struggle with the West which imposed sweeping sanctions in response to the invasion
- BBC