NPR

A new reality reverberates through Russia's music scene

Canceled concerts, lawsuits, existential turmoil. As Russia has cracked down on anti-war speech, the country's music scene reaches a particularly high pitch.
Singer-songwriter Manizha, photographed at Eurovision in Rotterdam on May 16, 2021. She faced a cyberbullying campaign in Russia after voicing opposition to the country's military operation in Ukraine.

The day singer-songwriter Manizha Sangin was supposed to headline a June music festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, she went instead to a shelter housing Ukrainian refugees. A week earlier, the festival had abruptly removed her from its lineup — the second to do so. Soon, her July solo show in Moscow was also canceled, with the venue citing pressure from the government as its reason.

"Because of my words, because of my position," Manizha says, in the way of someone explaining things that need no explanation.

In February, when Russian troops , Manizha posted her opposition , calling it a "fratricidal conflict" against the," followed, calling with eerie timing for an end to wars. In June, a big Russian newspaper reported that Manizha was in Paris, where she'd traveled to visit her sister after a car accident.

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