In Orsk, a city in the Urals, the performance by participants of the KVN comedy team “Uezdny Gorod” was cancelled following criticism from the mayor over their video statement condemning the war in Ukraine. This was reported by “Podjom.”
On 26 February, Orsk mayor Artem Vorobyev wrote on his Telegram channel that comedians Yevgeny Nikishin and Sergei Pisarenko “have been spreading false information about the special military operation.” According to the city head, he had received messages asking how appropriate it was for them to perform in Orsk.
He wrote: “My personal opinion is—absolutely inappropriate!” and asked his followers to share their own views. He also conducted a poll on his channel, with most participants voting against the comedians' performance.
Nikishin and Pisarenko were due to perform at the Sultan restaurant on 8 March. Today, the venue told “Podjom” that the event had been cancelled: “'Uezdny Gorod' has been cancelled due to the situation that has arisen. You’ve probably heard? Unfortunately, we were forced to cancel.”
According to Pisarenko, the event organisers told the comedians they were unable to gather enough spectators. “The restaurant holds 150 seats, they tried to fill them, but set the ticket price too high and only 30 tickets sold. I haven’t checked further details yet,” he said.
Asked whether the event was possibly cancelled “for ideological reasons,” the comedian said: “This seems to be some misunderstanding or provocation.”
“Yesterday after the show we donated money as a troupe to the 7th Battalion for the special military operation. A statement [in support of the military from this battalion] was recorded <…> Yesterday we received messages from the battalion, saying they want to award us for helping out. There are all sorts of mayors,” he added.
In 2022, in the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a video statement by Nikishin and Pisarenko surfaced while they were in Ukraine. In the video, Pisarenko called for an end to the war and said that civilian deaths were being caused by Russian army actions.
Later, he began to claim that the statement had been recorded under pressure from Ukrainian security forces after being detained at the border. “You can see for yourself we are in a police station, there’s a height chart behind us, and Zhenya is standing in a semi-faint state. It’s a great shame the video appeared at all, but we had to get into Russia, and this was the only way! We are Russians and we love our motherland!” Pisarenko said.
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On 17 May 2024, Alexander Zumorin was detained outside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow while holding a sign reading: “No to war.” / Photo provided by the detainee’s wife