Andrei Makarevich wears a ribbon with the colors of the Ukrainian Flag in the March of Peace in Moscow on March 15th. Image from Wikimedia Commons As Russian singer Andrei Makarevich was performing at the House of Music in Moscow on September 25, members of the unregistered nationalist party “Other Russia” disrupted the show, yelled “Traitor!” threw eggs and leaflets, and released pepper spray into the theater. Makarevich recently performed in the Donetsk region, which, in light of the increasingly aggressive nationalist tensions building as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, proved to be enough to brand Makarevich a Ukraine sympathizer in the eyes of pro-Russian activists. As the conflict unfolds, political borders turn into cultural borders, and artists on both sides suffer the consequences. The Russian and Ukrainian music scenes have always been intertwined. Young Ukrainian artists would come to Moscow looking for fame and fortune, while Russian celebrities would go to Ukraine on tour. The two countries have always been connected through culture, languages and history. But as nationalist rhetoric gets more heated, cultural exchange is suffering. Together with some Ukrainian artists, Makarevich, leader of the well-know Russian rock band Mashina Vremeni (Time Machine), performed for children of refugees in the Donetsk region, near Slovyansk and Svyatogorsk, in the beginning of August. Donetsk, a city within the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, has been at the center of summer’s Russia-Ukraine conflict, ever since it was taken over by pro-Russian separatists in April. Although an official ceasefire was declared in September, violent clashes continue. After he returned to Russia, Makarevich wrote a column about his trip for Russia’s Snob magazine, which ignited heated debates in pro-Kremlin Mass Media. Headlines accused Makarevich of performing for Ukrainian occupation troops. Well-known Russian figures used their platforms to publicly denounce him. Joseph Kobzon, an iconic Russian singer and politician said : И говорить о том, что демократия позволяет каждому иметь свое мнение… Свое мнение – да, но демократия не позволяет быть предателями своей страны. [There is no point in] saying that democracy allows everyone to have their own opinion. Your opinion – yes, but democracy doesn’t allow you [to become] a traitor of your country. Russian MP Yevgeny Fyodorov suggested revoking all the state awards that Makarevich has previously received. Another MP, Dmitry Livintsev, offered to deport Makarevich from the country. “Andrei Makarevich has been working with fascists for a long time. He made this choice a while ago, when he came to the side of the enemies of the Russian Federation,” Fyodorov told to Izvestia newspaper. After Nashe Radio, the organizer of the rock festival Nashestvie, announced that Mashina Vremeni would perform at the closing concert of the festival, its website was flooded with angry comments and calls to boycott the festival. (Nashestviye itself had a strong military presence, including tanks, soldiers in uniform, and a recruiting station.) After three weeks of bullying, Makarevitch wrote an open letter to Vladimir Putin asking him to “stop this [witches’] Sabbath.” He has since postponed a forthcoming Ukraine tour, claiming health reasons. Nochnye Snaipery, another well-known Russian rock band, is no longer welcome to perform in several Russian cities after Diana Arbenina, the band’s leader, was accused of expressing sympathy with the Ukrainian people. Diana Arbenina believes that her October concert in Vladimir was cancelled because her band performed in Kyiv in July. At least nine concerts of Arbenina have been cancelled in the past few months. During her concert in Kyiv Arbenina said: Я за то, что бы нас не могли разлучить и поссорить наши народы […] Меня никто об этом не просил, но мне кажется, что сейчас очень правильно перед лицом Всевышнего попросить прощения за своих коллег, за тех людей, которые играют рок-н-ролл и, которые почему-то вас до сих не поддержали в страшное для Украины время I support the idea that nothing can separate us and split our people. […] No one asked me to do this. In the face of the Almighty, I want to ask for forgiveness for my colleagues, for those people who play rock and roll, and for some reason haven’t yet supported you in the worst time for Ukraine. After her concerts were cancelled all over Russia, Arbenina issued a video message on YouTube. She said: Причини по которому это случилось очень разные. потекла крыша. был ремонт в клубе. плошадку внезапно забирали под другие городские нужды. и все ето конечно же вранье. я хочу вам сказат што мы все равно приедем.