Actor Aleksandr Filippenko leaves Russia

People’s Artist of Russia Aleksandr Filippenko has left Russia, his daughter Alexandra told independent Russian news network TV Rain. She says her father’s decision was “related to his position” on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On May 19, 2022, Filippenko posted a photo of himself wearing a vyshyvanka, a Ukrainian embroidered shirt, on Facebook. “Dad decided to get out his vyshyvanka and remember his excellent days in Kyiv, and Dovzhenko’s studio, and he wrote some words of love, mostly to friends who are there,” the actor’s daughter said.

After the invasion, according to Alexandra, venues started to refuse appearances by her father. The Mossovet Theater, one of the oldest in Moscow, declined to renew the actor’s contract in November, though he is still on the bill for a production there.

Filippenko is currently living in Vilnius. He is one of a large number of Russian actors, directors, and musicians who have left the country because they don’t support the war. Russian politicians have suggested various punishments, including property seizures, for artists who speak out against the war from outside of Russia.