From ballet to opera to classic literature, Russia has turned its culture into an instrument for its own expansion. The West must fight back, Ukraine's culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko writes in an op-ed in German daily Die Welt. It's time to stop supporting Russian artists and seek out Ukrainians instead.
Seen as "pro-Putin," the opera singer's concert at the May Festival in Wiesbaden, which prompted several Ukrainian artists and Russian punk band Pussy Riot to pull out, is now sold out.
Opera singer Anna Netrebko has star billing at the May Festival in Wiesbaden. But her ties to Vladimir Putin has caused an exodus of Ukrainian artists - and Russian punk band Pussy Riot.