Alla Pugacheva: Russian singing superstar slams Ukraine war and asks to be declared ‘foreign agent’

Famous Russian artist and singer Alla Pugacheva has spoken out against the war in Ukraine publicly for the first time and urged Moscow to label her a “foreign agent”.

This comes a week after her husband Maxim Galkin was labelled a “foreign agent” for opposing the war in Ukraine.

On her Instagram, where the 73-year-old singer has more than 3 million followers, Ms Pugacheva asked the country’s justice ministry “to include me on the foreign agents list of my beloved country”.

“Because I stand in solidarity with my husband, who is an honest and ethical person, a true and incorruptible Russian patriot, who only wishes for prosperity, peace and freedom of expression in his motherland,” she added.

She said her husband wanted “the end of the deaths of our boys for illusory goals that make our country a pariah and weigh heavily on the lives of its citizens”.

Ms Pugacheva’s husband, a comedian, TV presenter and singer, has often publicly criticised Russia’s actions in Ukraine and now lives abroad.

Early this month, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of Mr Galkin: “Our paths have clearly diverged — he has made very bad statements”.

Local Russian media reported Ms Pugacheva left the country in February this year after the invasion began and returned in September for the funeral of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Russian authorities use the label “foreign agent” for any activists or organisations who openly condemn Kremlin policies.

The megastar’s comments against Moscow and the war in Ukraine will likely anger the Kremlin.

“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 BBC quoted Artemy Troitsky, a Russian journalist and music critic who left the country in 2014, as saying.

“I think that morally and emotionally this statement of Alla Pugacheva is maybe one of the most strong efforts in these directions,” he added.