Monetochka joins growing list of musicians dropping out of major Russian festival because of organizers' military ties

Elizaveta Gyrdymova — aka “Monetochka” (Lil’ Coin) — has pulled out of the 2018 Nashestvie (“Invasion”) music festival, which will take place in early August. “I’m sorry that I didn’t warn you sooner. Peace to everyone,” Gyrdymova wrote on Vkontakte on Wednesday. Organizers told the magazine RBC that she dropped out of the festival “more than a month ago.”

Monetochka joins a growing list of musicians who have canceled their performances at the festival because of the organizers’ continued cooperation with Russia’s Defense Ministry. The musicians argue that rock music is “incompatible with militarism.”