Artists with Anti-Russian Stance Will Not Be Able to Return, Shvydkoy Says

Artists who have left Russia due to the Special Military Operation in Ukraine and have adopted a strong anti-Russian stance will not be able to return, according to Mikhail Shvydkoy, the special representative of the President of Russia for international cultural cooperation.

“Those who today take a strong anti-Russian position, I don’t think they will be able to return. From my point of view, artists should stay home during such difficult times,” Shvydkoy noted in an interview with RIA Novosti.

He emphasized that artists have left Russia for various reasons, including some who were simply scared, but many of them have “spoken out in a way that violated a number of laws in Russia.”