logo
Russia condemns Italy over cancellation of concert with pro-Putin conductor Gergiev

Russia condemns Italy over cancellation of concert with pro-Putin conductor Gergiev

Reuters23-07-2025
MOSCOW, July 23 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused Italy of discrimination and said it had caved into misplaced Ukrainian lobbying after Italian authorities cancelled a classical music concert by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev.
Gergiev, who is an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had been expected to lead an Italian orchestra and soloists from St Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, which he heads, on July 27.
The Reggia di Caserta, a grand 18th-century palace near Naples which had been due to host the concert, said in a short statement on Monday that the event had been called off. It gave no reason.
It made the statement after criticism from Italian politicians and activists, including the wife of late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who objected to the concert because of Gergiev's association with Putin and Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump's Ukraine deadline for Putin arrives - as uncertainty remains over possible meeting
Trump's Ukraine deadline for Putin arrives - as uncertainty remains over possible meeting

Sky News

time2 hours ago

  • Sky News

Trump's Ukraine deadline for Putin arrives - as uncertainty remains over possible meeting

Donald Trump has rowed back on an earlier claim that he will only meet with Vladimir Putin if Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also at the summit - as a US deadline for Moscow to avoid further sanctions arrives. The Russian president said on Thursday that he hoped to meet the US leader next week, with the summit potentially taking place in the United Arab Emirates. Mr Putin's announcement came on the eve of a White House deadline for Moscow to show progress towards ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine or suffer additional economic sanctions. Asked on Thursday if his deadline for Friday would hold, Mr Trump said of Mr Putin: "It's going to be up to him. We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed." Asked if Mr Putin needed to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in order to meet him, Mr Trump said: "No, he doesn't." Sky News' US correspondent David Blevins said it was "very difficult to gauge the prospect for a meeting", with the last few days having left a number of questions unanswered - notably whether Russia is really more inclined to a ceasefire, and whether Mr Putin is ready to sit down with Mr Zelenskyy. "It's difficult to see why Putin would be prepared to dilute his red lines at this point," Blevins said. Two White House officials and a senior administration official have told Sky News that secondary sanctions on Russia are still expected to be implemented on Friday. Meanwhile, Mr Trump has said on his Truth Social account that he will be hosting the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the prime minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, at the White House for an "official Peace Signing Ceremony" on Friday. He added: "These two Nations have been at War for many years, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people. Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to 'TRUMP'." Mr Trump has long been hoping to add Ukraine to the list of wars he boasts of having stopped, claiming during the election last year he could do so in a single day, but has been frustrated since returning to office. 2:06 Putin suggests he won't meet with Zelenskyy It comes after a White House official told the Associated Press that a US-Russian summit wouldn't happen if Mr Putin did not agree to meet with Ukrainian president Mr Zelenskyy, but the official later said it only made it less likely. When asked about the prospect of meeting with Mr Zelenskyy, Mr Putin said on Thursday: "I have already said many times that I have nothing against it in general, it is possible." However, he distanced himself from any such meeting happening soon, adding: "But certain conditions must be created for this. But unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions." 0:23 White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said Mr Trump wants to meet both leaders because he wants this "brutal war to end". She added: "The White House is working through the details of these potential meetings and details will be provided at the appropriate time." It is understood that the White House is preparing for the possibility of a bilateral or trilateral meeting as it remains unclear whether Mr Putin will be prepared to meet with the Ukrainian leader. Mr Zelenskyy said he had phone conversations with several European leaders on Thursday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity - as the Ukrainian government fears being sidelined by direct negotiations between Washington and Moscow.

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy rallies Europe allies before Trump-Putin meeting
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy rallies Europe allies before Trump-Putin meeting

The Guardian

time2 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy rallies Europe allies before Trump-Putin meeting

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Europe must participate in the peace process between his country and Russia after a call with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Thursday. The Ukrainian president embarked on a lightning round of calls with European leaders ahead of a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin expected soon. As the Kremlin refused a three-way meeting with Zelenskyy and Trump, Zelenskyy said: 'Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side.' The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she had spoken with Zelenskyy about the developments of the past days and 'next steps on the way towards a negotiated peace agreement and Ukraine's future membership in the European Union as well as its reconstruction'. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, reaffirmed France's full support for a ceasefire in Ukraine and the launch of talks aimed at reaching a lasting and solid peace, after a 'long discussion' with Zelenskyy and other European leaders. 'I reiterated to the Ukrainian president France's full support for establishing a ceasefire and launching discussions toward a solid and lasting solution that preserves Ukraine's legitimate rights and guarantees its security and that of Europeans.' Zelenskyy said he had discussed a new International Monetary Fund financial assistance programme for Ukraine with the IMF's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva. 'We are prepared to carry out the necessary steps quickly. The government is already working on this.' Ukraine's current $15.5bn programme with the IMF expires in 2027. Russian drone strikes injured three women in the Bucha district of Kyiv oblast and houses caught on fire, officials said early on Friday. Kharkiv was hit by Shahed drones, causing fires; while on Thursday eight injuries were reported from Russian shelling in Donetsk oblast. The director of Russia's notorious Taganrog prison, where officials are accused of overseeing the systematic torture and starvation of hundreds of Ukrainian detainees, has been notified by authorities in Kyiv that he is suspected of having committed a war crime, write Shaun Walker and Andrew Roth. Aleksandr Shtoda, head of the Sizo 2 pre-trial detention centre in Taganrog, has been formally placed under investigation. A Russian state-owned explosives manufacturer got around sanctions by buying equipment made by Germany's Siemens through a middleman who imports technology from China, Reuters has reported based on customs data and state procurement records. The equipment was for the recently expanded Biysk Oleum Factory (BOZ) in southern Siberia, which makes the explosives TNT and HMX and is listed as a supplier to the Russian defence ministry. Reuters said it found no evidence Siemens knowingly supplied BOZ. A Siemens spokesperson said it strictly complied with international sanctions and demanded the same from its customers, but some goods could reach Russia without it knowing. It would report any sanctions contraventions to the authorities. Questions sent to BOZ and its parent company went unanswered, said Reuters. Russia does not produce much of its own automated machine tooling – and Konrad Muzyka, director of the Rochan military consultancy in Poland, said continued delivery of western-made machines was helping Russia prolong the war. 'Without them, Russia's capacity to sustain or scale its war effort would be more time consuming, expensive and place a bigger burden on the labour market.'

Kyiv opens war crime inquiry into head of notorious Russian prison
Kyiv opens war crime inquiry into head of notorious Russian prison

The Guardian

time4 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Kyiv opens war crime inquiry into head of notorious Russian prison

The director of Russia's notorious Taganrog prison, where officials are accused of overseeing the systematic torture and starvation of hundreds of Ukrainian detainees, has been notified by authorities in Kyiv that he is suspected of having committed a war crime. Ukraine's national police service and its chief war crimes prosecutor announced on Thursday that Aleksandr Shtoda, head of the Sizo 2 pre-trial detention centre in Taganrog, had been formally placed under investigation. Shtoda was identified by the Viktoriia Project, an investigation by the Guardian and other reporting partners into the death in Russian captivity of the journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who was seized while working undercover in the occupied territories and transferred to Taganrog, where she spent nearly nine months. She was last seen alive on 8 September 2024, and her body was repatriated earlier this year. Ukrainian investigators are still working to identify exactly where and how she died, although her remains showed numerous signs of torture. The announcement comes before Roshchyna's funeral in Kyiv on Friday, and follows a decision by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to posthumously award her the Order of Freedom. Shtoda took over as head the prison, which lies near the border with occupied Ukraine, in October 2022, having previously worked there in management roles. After Russia's full-scale invasion, Sizo 2 was transformed from a facility holding juvenile inmates and mothers with babies to a torture centre for prisoners of war. In a statement, Ukraine's national police service alleged: 'During the period of the suspect's leadership in Sizo No 2 in Taganrog, Rostov region, a system of repressive treatment of illegally detained Ukrainian citizens, including civilians, was organised.' They said their investigation, with operational support from other agencies including the intelligence services at the defence ministry, had found Roshchyna was 'subjected to systematic torture, humiliation, threats, severe restrictions on access to medical care, drinking water and food, and was deprived of the opportunity to sleep or sit during the day'. They also found she 'was subjected to physical punishment and psychological pressure' to cooperate by her captors at Taganrog. Police claimed Shtoda 'personally gave orders to his subordinates to apply physical and moral pressure' to Roshchyna. 'Being aware of her civilian status and the protection guaranteed by international humanitarian law, he deliberately violated the norms of the Geneva convention and other international treaties.' They concluded: 'The actions of the defendant were qualified as a war crime in accordance with international standards.' The police statement was accompanied by photographs of Shtoda, although by convention did not refer to him by name. He was named in a video statement released on the same day by the prosecutor in charge of Roshchyna's case, Yurii Bielousov, who said: 'By his actions, Aleksandr Shtoda committed a war crime in the form of ill-treatment of a civilian, for which he is liable under part 1 of article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 12 years. The investigation into this crime is ongoing and will identify all those involved in its commission.' A notice of suspicion is a formal document issued by law enforcement or a prosecutor to inform a person that they are officially suspected of committing a crime, and marks the beginning of the pre-trial investigation phase. Prosecutors may subsequently charge the individual, and a judge will then decide whether to proceed to trial. Those not physically in Ukraine can be prosecuted in absentia. Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns to protect journalists, welcomed the announcement as a 'first step towards justice'. They added: 'It is time for all those responsible for her death to be identified and held accountable. Their silence is unbearable.' Shtoda has been approached for comment.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store