The pop singer has fallen out of favor in Russia and Ukraine. Will they take two state awards from her in Kiev? – World – News

He supported the Ukrainian army. She betrayed Ukraine. This is not about two women, but about one woman. Karolína Kueková, whose stage name is Ani Lorak, gradually heard complaints from both sides of the great military conflict. At the same time, he presented himself as neutral, but it is worth noting that he was clearly calculated.

photo: SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE

Ani Lorak is a singer born in Ukraine. A few months ago, she applied for Russian citizenship.

Lorak, 45, a Ukrainian who lived in Russia for several years, is one of the brightest stars of the post-Soviet music scene. She began singing at the age of four and won singing competitions while still a student. In Western Europe, she attracted attention in 2008: she represented Ukraine at the international Eurovision Song Contest. Amid fierce competition, she took the precious second place.

After Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine, Lorak faced retribution for not returning to the country on the one hand, and the paranoia of Russian officials on the other. It could almost be said that she became the protagonist of the tragicomic story of the information war between Kiev and Moscow.

The first problems arose already in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. “She was scheduled to give concerts on the peninsula, but she angered the Ukrainian public and had to cancel the performances. This happened several more times, and then Lorak moved to Russia, where she continued her career,” noted the waiter at Nastojašcheje vremya.

Many people might have thought that after President Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Lorak could become a propaganda tool for Moscow against Kiev, since she still lives in Russia. A mistake. Paranoia-based delusions spread around her. In the spring of 2023, Lorak was supposed to give concerts in several Russian cities (the most expensive tickets were converted to 80 euros). However, she did not appear on the stage.

Russians fell victim to the plague. The media claimed, without any evidence, that Lorak used the money he earned from the concerts to provide financial support to the Ukrainian army. “We residents object to the fact that those who claim to love the ruling forces of Ukraine, which are against us, are performing in our city. “No businessman, actor, singer or singer with such an attitude towards special military operations will make money here,” the mayor of Krasnodar, Yevgeny Naumov, wrote on the Telegram social network at the time. “Two other cities, Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don, joined the boycott.

Against this background, it sounds tragicomic that Loraq had already fallen out of favor in Ukraine for months. In March 2022, a star named after her was removed from the Walk of Fame in the city of Chernivtsi, where she was born. In September of the same year, an even more serious blow came: the National Security and Defense Committee under President Vladimir Zelensky froze the singer’s assets and banned her from entering the country. This was in retaliation for her retaining her family address in Russia.

How does Loraq actually view the Russian aggression against Ukraine, now that Ukraine has subsequently become a target for both Kiev and Moscow? After the invasion, she issued an appeal to stop the war on the Instagram social network: “I am a Ukrainian, a mother, and my loved ones are now being shelled in Ukraine. My heart goes out to everyone who is suffering right now. Please put an end to this senseless war that no one needs.” In the fall of 2022, she spoke out for the second time, when she declared that she considered her mission to spread music that brings joy to people, rather than deal with politics, but she did not even bother to condemn the killings.

In the spring of 2023, when her concert schedule in Russia was cancelled, she gave an interview that was a little absent. “What happened has happened,” she commented on the invasion, while guaranteeing that not a single ruble of her earnings would be used to buy weapons for the Ukrainians. She stressed that she was only concerned with helping women and children who found themselves without weapons. “My brother died in Afghanistan when I was nine years old. I cannot help the army because it is not in my nature,” she said (her brother died during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan).

After the words “What happened happened”, Lorac made more enemies in her home country, “They didn’t expect her to be in Ukraine. She still has the title of National Artist, which is actually strange. She herself is disowning her. “This conversation, “said Ukrainian journalist and popular blogger Olena Kurbanová for Nastojaščeje vremja.

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The journalist is probably not wrong. This spring, Lorak applied for Russian citizenship. Perhaps the same can be said about the mentioned title. The singer has one more title: Honored Artist, one level below the National Artist. A week ago, the Ukrainian parliament approved a draft law that would allow the withdrawal of state awards for those who are identified as Russian collaborators. This will not only be decided by the courts. The National Security and Defense Council will also receive this power.

However, many Ukrainians turned a blind eye to Lorak, and although she still lives in Russia, she still has a large number of fans who enjoy playing her songs on YouTube.