Russian Voices

Throughout a 22-year reign as president, Vladimir Putin has paired military aggression and human rights violations with a culture of fear and silence. Mass protests against his leadership have been violently quashed. Public figures who openly oppose his leadership have faced dire consequences.

When Putin made a public address shortly before 6am local time on February 24, 2022 which was followed by a land, air, and sea invasion of Ukraine, however, Russians did not remain silent. What had been feared for weeks had now become a reality that surprised even his most pessimistic critics, and an unprecedented number of Russian public figures have voiced their outrage and horror at his act. This includes many representatives of the country’s classical music scene. What follows are statements made to VAN by some of those conductors, composers, singers, and more—as well as links to comments that have appeared elsewhere. We will be updating this page as more comments come in.