Ukraine is calling for a boycott of 'The Nutcracker.' Ballet companies aren't budging

Anna Dobrova, 19, rehearses for a production of The Snow Queen by the Kyiv National Ballet at the National Opera in Kyiv on Sunday. The medley will be performed without music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Prokofiev this year. (Pete Kiehart for NPR)

Ukraine's culture minister is calling on the nation's Western allies to temporarily boycott Russian artists and composers.

In a Wednesday opinion column for The Guardian, Oleksandr Tkachenko writes that Russian President Vladimir Putin sees Russian culture as "a tool and even a weapon" to attack liberal values and advance his own agenda.