Russian Eurovision star Manizha faces hate campaign over opposition to Ukraine war

The singer who represented Russia at Eurovision in 2021 is being targeted by a cyberbullying campaign over her opposition to the war in Ukraine.

Manizha Sangin has been an outspoken critic of the invasion, calling it a “fraternal conflict” that goes “against the will” of Russian people.

Now, a co-ordinated online campaign is trying to blacklist the star in Russia. This week, the magazine Sobaka.ru pulled a cover story about the star, while she was included on an unofficial list of “blacklisted artists” that circulated amongst Russian media companies earlier this year.

Many of her concerts this summer have been scrapped after details of the organisers were posted on social media.

“She, her team and the promoters [have] received many threats”, Sangin’s spokesman Sergey Lakovlev told the BBC.

One message shared on social media site Telegram includes the phone number and address for organisers of September’s Aleksandrovskaya Fortress festival, which celebrates the Cossack culture of Ukraine and southern Russia.

It urges people to “write in” and “demand to cancel the performance of Manizha, saying that she opposes the Russian army”.

It adds: “Most importantly, be polite and non-offensive. It is important that there are a lot of requests, so spread the word.”

The singer, whose fiancé is half-Ukrainian, has repeatedly spoken of her “despair” over Russia’s invasion.

“I want nothing but peace. Children, women, soldiers are dying here and there,” she wrote on Instagram earlier this year.

Her opposition is partly based on her childhood experiences of fleeing the civil war in Tajikistan. “When you see these tragedies from the inside, your position is crystal clear: You never want this to happen to anyone ever again,” she told US news network NPR.

Photo – Manizha (2-R) from Russia arrives on the Turquoise Carpet for the Opening Ceremony of the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) at the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 16 May 2021. EPA-EFE/SANDER KONING / POOL

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