Fearless Russian female rock stars sparked a defiant “f*** the war” protest in opposition to Vladimir Putin ’s bloody invasion of Ukraine.
Popular band Kis-Kis sparked a rare public display of opposition to the ongoing war in Ukraine in Putin’s own home city of St Petersburg.
The band has two upcoming performances in Ivanovo on Thursday and Moscow this weekend, which will test the resolve of Russian authorities whether they cancel them or not.
Founded in 2018, the band is famed for its viral music videos.
It is led by its two female members, drummer Alina Olesheva, 23, and lead singer Sofya Somuseva, 26, along with two male members guitarist Yuri Zaslonov and bass guitarist Sergei Ivanov.
At the packed out concert in St Petersburg, the band led the crowd in the anti-war chant.
Hundreds if not thousands of the concert-goers can be seen chanting along as some punch the air as they do.
This comes as so far, any anti-war sentiment shared publicly has been clamped down on by the Russian authorities including arresting people standing with blank signs in the vicinity of other protests.
One of Kis-Kis' latest songs, ‘War’, may have provoked the defiant outburst.
The lyrics appear to target and mock Putin without ever naming him, reading: “There is no-one worse than a crazy person, one who does not care about people. Drunk, intoxicated with power, he sees enemies everywhere.”
The song also has the lines: “Instead of a shot there will be notes, instead of a bullet there will be a string.
“Truth becomes the first victim when there is a war. So let flowers grow where there were traces of it.”
Drummer Alina already spoke out against the war, leading to some backlash.
And some fans at the concert didn’t post the chants, fearing they would break the law in doing so.
But one wrote: “Now you have definitely realised that you are not alone and that there are people who will not be silent about this sh** that is happening now.”
One message read: “Thank you @kiskisnotdead for not being silent, thank you @kiskisklan for burning and destroying the hall again.”
Alina has posted: “Why the F*** did everyone decide that music should be ‘out of politics’ when punk rock, in particular, has always been with a protest ideology?"
"One artist unsubscribed from me, because, quote: ‘I don’t share some of your positions’.
“My positions are so that people do not die (on both sides)” and she added that she could not "bury your head in the sand and go on tour”.
She asked: "What future awaits us if the voices of young people choose to remain silent at the most difficult moment.”
The Kis-Kis concert protest came after Russian authorities charged veteran rock star Yuri Shevchuk over his public opposition to and mockery of the war.
He was charged with spreading “false information” about the invasion after he won applause in front of an audience of 10,000 when he mocked “our Caesar” and his invasion.
Risking a jail sentence under Russia ’s draconian laws, he asked the crowd: “People are now killed in Ukraine, what for? Why are our guys dying there?
“Friends, what are the goals, that the youth of Russia, [and] the elderly, women, children are dying for? Because of some Napoleonic plans of our Caesar?”
This was greeted by strong applause and then he said: “The motherland, friends, is not the president's ass that should be constantly caressed and kissed.
“The Motherland is a poor grandmother selling potatoes [to survive] at a [railway] station … This is the motherland [strong applause].”
