Moscow — Former Royal Ballet star Sergei Polunin, famous for his tattoos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, announced his intention to leave Russia on Wednesday. The Ukrainian-Russian dancer was one of the most high-profile stars who supported Russia. unilateral annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its military assault on Ukraine. He was rewarded with prestigious positions in the state.
In disjointed, poorly spelled language message on his Instagram Polunin wrote: “My stay in Russia has long passed, it seems that at this moment I have fulfilled my mission here. »
The post first appeared on his little-read Telegram account on Sunday.
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Polunin, 35, did not give a specific reason for his departure, but said: “Thank you for everything Russia has done for me. The moment arrives and the soul feels that it is not where it should be.
He said he was leaving with his family – wife Yelena and three children – but “where we will go is unclear at the moment”.
This summer, the dancer complained about the lack of security and said he was being followed.
Ukraine-born Polunin supported Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 – a prelude to ongoing politics, full-scale invasion of Ukraine which Putin launched in February 2022.
The dancer received Russian citizenship in 2019. He was appointed acting director of a dance academy in Sevastopol, the largest city in occupied Crimea, and director of the city’s opera and ballet theater, for which a large new building is under construction.
Last year he was decorated by Putin for his role in popularizing dance. But in August he was replaced as head of the dance academy by former Bolshoi prima Maria Alexandrova, and a week ago Russian Arts Minister Olga Lyubimova announced that his position as director of theater would go to the singer Ildar Abdrazakov.
This happened after, on December 9, Polunin published a social media post saying he was “very sorry for the people” living in the heavily bombed village near the Ukrainian city of Kherson, “where a generation of Polunins grew up and my Russian grandfather built a small house with his own hands.”
He urged Putin to negotiate to end the war in Ukraine, saying that even “the worst deal would be better than war.”
“I hope that the Russian president will show humanity and that it will be possible to have a normal professional conversation with Trump,” Polunin wrote at the time. “It is better to show will and good humor and start negotiations.”
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Aged 13, Polunin won a scholarship to train at the Royal Ballet School in London and became the youngest principal dancer in its history.
With his tattoos – including a large depiction of Putin’s face prominently on his chest – and his rebellious attitude, he became known as the “bad boy of ballet” and caused a sensation by resigning from the Royal Ballet at the height of his career. renamed in 2007. 2012.
He later made a hit video in 2015 with Irish musician Hozier’s song “Take Me to Church” and starred in a 2016 documentary called “Dancer.”
He moved to perform at the ballet at Moscow’s Stanislavsky Musical Theater before embarking on a solo career, starring in dance performances in roles such as the mystic Grigori Rasputin.
In 2019, he posed for AFP with a large Putin tattoo on his chest, which he later complemented with two Putin faces on each shoulder. He also wears a large Ukrainian trident on his right hand.
This year he participated Putin’s re-election campaign as a celebrity support.