A crowd of people gathering in St. Petersburg sang an anti-war song by a Russian musician deemed a “foreign agent” in a video that has gone viral.
The clips widely circulated on Telegram showed the group singing the song “Cooperative Swan Lake” by Noize MC, whose lyrics condemn the authorities, the population’s silence in the war in Ukraine and Kremlin propaganda justifying President Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
It was reported that the person leading the sing-along was arrested, and ultra-nationalist Russians have expressed anger at the scenes.
Why It Matters
Since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has faced a clampdown on freedoms, where public opposition to the war and the government is in effect banned.
Thus, gathering people to sing a song by a prominent anti-government musician is a significant expression of anger at the country’s authorities, carrying considerable risk.
What To Know
Footage shows a group of people in St. Petersburg singing the song by Noize MC, the stage name of Ivan Alekseev, 40, a Russian musician whose work condemns corruption and police abuse in Russia.
Critical of the Russian government and its actions in Ukraine, he has faced concert cancellations, censorship and surveillance and has been labeled a “foreign agent.” He has since relocated to Lithuania, where he continues to support anti-war causes and has held benefit concerts for Ukrainians.
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The nighttime footage in the center of St. Petersburg showed hundreds of people singing “Cooperative Swan Lake,” which was released in 2022 after the start of the war.
The lyrics take aim at Kremlin TV propaganda justifying the war, with lines like “I want to talk to you, but the TV is blaring, it’s pretending to be your head, its speaker is like your mouth.”
It continues, “I want to watch the ballet, let the swans dance,” in a nod to Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake, which was broadcast on loop following the deaths in 1982, 1984 and 1985 of Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko.
In August 1991, Swan Lake was also performed during the fall of the Soviet Union. While the aim may have been to calm viewers, it is associated with political disturbance following each political death and instability.
Those gathered sang, “let my grandfather tremble in fear for his ‘Ozero’ (lake)” in a disparaging reference to Putin and his inner circle known in St. Petersburg as the “Ozero collective.”
“Where have you been these eight years, f****** monsters?” says another line in the song released eight years after the 2014 annexation of Crimea. “Get rid of Solovyov from the screen, let the swans dance,” the song ends.
Vladimir Solovyov is a prominent Kremlin propagandist and Putin ally on the Russia 1 channel. His surname also means “nightingale,” adding a double meaning to the lyrics.
As of Wednesday, the clip had received at least 330,000 views and was met with criticism from pro-Kremlin Telegram channels.
“While our boys are shedding blood for their homeland, young people in the cultural capital are jumping up and down, chanting the lyrics of the foreign agent and traitor, Vanya Alekseev,” posted Vipuskayete Krakenaz.
This post was shared by the account of Igor Girkin, the Russian nationalist who was convicted in January 2024 of inciting extremism.
Independent Russian outlet Important Stories reported that the singalong was led by Diana Naoko Loginova, a street performer who was later arrested by police, although it is unclear whether charges will be filed.
Videos of her street performances have prompted the ire of Marina Akhmedova, editor-in-chief of pro-Kremlin news agency Regnum, about Loginova and her group. Akhmedova complained on Telegram that she had performed a song by a man who betrayed Russia and supports the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
What People Are Saying
Eastern European news outlet Visegrad 24 posted on X: “Young Russians sing a forbidden song in St Petersburg. Noize MC is a Russian pro-Ukrainian rapper forced to live in exile in Lithuania. The crowd sings his song ‘Cooperative Swan Lake’ in which he calls for Putin to be overthrown.”
Marina Akhmedova, editor-in-chief of pro-Kremlin news agency Regnum: “A street musician and a crowd of young people in St. Petersburg perform the song of the foreign agent Noize MC, a man who betrayed his native Belgorod and supports the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
What Happens Next
Reports suggested that group members were not arrested, although the detention of the alleged leader of the singalong will likely be watched closely by rights groups.