Ukrainian Artist Disqualified From Italian Festival for Calling Out Pro-Invasion Russian Jury

Ukrainian circus artist Anna Petrenko was disqualified from the International Salieri Circus Award in Italy after she expressed her protest against a member of the jury, the director of the Moscow State Circus and the son of the famous Soviet actor Yuri Nikulin, Maxim Nikulin, who supports the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine. Because of this, she was disqualified.

Petrenko wrote about this on her Instagram account.

Before her performance, Petrenko went to the audience to distribute sheets of paper with the inscription "Nikulin supports the invasion of Ukraine" and a photo of Nikulin surrounded by people in military uniform.

Anna said that she did not know that a representative of Russia would be participating as a jury in the festival.

"Some people started following me because of the festival, and I think it's a good reason to remind everyone: art is not apolitical, and neither am I. All I am doing here is trying to represent my beautiful country and its culture while we fight for our independence, freedom and democracy in the world,” she wrote.

The artistic director of the festival, Antonio Giarola, said that the festival invited a Russian person to the jury panel this year "just as other cultural and artistic organizations have done."

He added that among the participants of the festival, there are 11 Ukrainians and 3 Russians, which "confirms the status of the event as a symbol of coexistence and unity, in accordance with circus traditions." 

Nikulin previously stated to the Russian media that he has visited the occupied Ukrainian territories multiple times and sent circus groups to cheer up the Russian fighters, calling them “agitation brigades.”