July 05, 2023

Rockstar Declared Foreign Agent


Rockstar Declared Foreign Agent
Boris Grebenshchikov. KarloMorosin, Twitter.

Boris Grebenshchikov, singer and songwriter considered one of the fathers of Russian Rock and Roll, has been declared a "foreign agent" by the Ministry of Justice for his anti-war remarks and fundraising efforts.

Grebenshchikov is no stranger to censorship. His first band, Aquarium, began playing when Western Rock & Roll was prohibited in the Soviet Union. The Soviet government banned Aquarium's music after a scandalous performance in Tbilisi in 1980, resulting in Grebenshchikov losing his job and his membership in the Communist Party. In response, in 1983, he sang, "Rock and Roll is dead, but I'm not yet."

The musician has openly opposed the war in interviews and concerts. In October 2022, "BG" released a song with Dave Stewart, Stevie Nicks, and Serhii Babkin to fundraise for the Ukrainian government platform United24 (embedded below). On May 18, Grebenshchikov, who currently resides outside Russia, was charged with "discrediting the army."

On the day "BG" was declared a "foreign agent," independent news outlets such as Bumaga and Sota.Vision, the Anglo-American school of Moscow, and the former rabbi of Moscow, Fillip Goldschmidt, among others, were given the same label. 

You Might Also Like

The Age of Aquarium
  • September 01, 2012

The Age of Aquarium

For 40 years, Boris Grebenshchikov and Aquarium have made music like no other band in Russia, combining poetry and beautiful, often quizzical instrumentals into a charming sound that is at once entirely unique and entirely Russian.
Anything to Stop The Show
  • April 04, 2023

Anything to Stop The Show

Moscow police attempted to interrupt an anti-war pianist's concert, going so far as to call in a bomb threat.
Wanted for a Lullaby
  • April 05, 2023

Wanted for a Lullaby

Moscow police have threatened a known comedian with arrest after he released an anti-war song about murdered Russian soldiers.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955