Russian police attempted to disrupt a concert while a pianist was playing music by a Ukrainian composer. Alexei Lyubimov was appearing in front of a crowd in Moscow when security police stormed the scene. The reason given for the operation was a bomb threat which turned out to be fake, according to reports. Members of the audience stood up to applaud as the pianist continued to play despite being applauded by police. Mr. Lyubimov, a famous Moscow-born musician in his seventies, protested with police officers who were sent to the concert hall after the show ended. He gave a music recital by Valentin Silvestrov, one of the greatest living composers of Ukraine. The musician could be seen raising his fist for a while as he completed the piece, while the crowd did not obey the officers’ order to leave the room. Alexei Lyubimov continued to play despite the fact that the police ordered him to stop (Image: Telegram) The crowd applauded and others made videos while the pianist did not obey the orders to finish the piece (Image: Telegram) Some reports described the concert as an “anti-war” event, but there were no other visible signs of dissent or pro-Ukrainian symbols. The Kremlin has ruthlessly suppressed any opposition to the invasion of Ukraine, even banning the public use of the word “war.” The Russian government has passed laws introducing 15-year prison sentences for sharing anti-war material on the Internet and referring to the attack only as a “special military operation.” Hundreds of people are facing charges and at least 23 could face prison sentences for the new “false information” charge, according to human rights groups. The demonstrators were suppressed within minutes by huge numbers of police who were sent to forcibly remove the protesters from the streets. Police in central Moscow detain a man during a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Image: AFP via Getty) There have been several reports of crackdowns on low-key dissidents. A Russian Orthodox priest has been fined 320 320 for “discrediting the Russian armed forces” after posting an anti-war statement on his church’s website and speaking to a dozen worshipers during a service on the pain of death in Ukraine. Student Dmitry Reznikov was convicted of presenting a white piece of paper with eight asterisks, which could be interpreted as “No to War” in Russian, a popular song of protesters. A man was reportedly arrested for holding a pack of sliced ham from meat producer Miratorg, with the second half of his name deleted and written Mir – peace in Russian. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
