Sergey Shnurov, founder and soloist of the Leningrad group, at a meeting with RBC refuted messages on some Telegram channels about the planned departure from Russia and the registration of citizenship of another country.
“I can answer in one word: “Do not wait.” I will not leave Russia anywhere, ”the musician said.
In the afternoon of March 4, the PUL Telegram channel, citing sources close to Shnurov reportedThat the leader of “Leningrad” applied for citizenship of one of the European countries and plans to leave Russia. According to the channel’s interlocutor, Shnurov carefully hid real estate in Israel and Switzerland.
In response, the musician traveled to Moscow and St. He said that he did not own real estate anywhere except in St. Petersburg. In conversation with TASS Shnurov recommendation Don’t spread false rumors.
“It’s time for journalists to stop spreading unsupported rumors. I live in Russia,” said Shnurov. When asked about the artists who left the country, the musician replied that he did not care who and where he lived.
Since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Sergei Shnurov has not made a public statement about his attitude to it. However, two weeks after the start of CBO, Shnurov left the post of general producer of the RTVI television channel. The artist explained that his personal position in the context of current events may not coincide with the broadcasting policy of the channel. Therefore, he decided to temporarily stop working with RTVI and focus on his own music projects.
At the same time, since March last year, Shnurov posted several clips on the YouTube channel of the Leningrad group, in which he mocked events that were somehow connected with SVO. For example, one of the songs is dedicated to Russian pacifists, who expressed their protest through posts on social networks and clothes with appropriate captions. And in the video “No Entry,” he compares anti-Russian sanctions to genocide.
Also in June 2022, Shnurov released a video for the song “Ne Zorro”, in which he criticized his former close friend, journalist Alexander Nevzorov (known in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent). The latter, after the start of the SVO, moved to Israel, was sentenced to 8 years in absentia in the case of fraud on the Armed Forces in Russia.
In August, actor Georgy Bolonev posted a photo (now deleted) of him posing in camouflage with Shnurov and Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny on Instagram (the owner of the Meta company was considered an extremist and banned in Russia). prigozhin The picture turned out to be fake – in reality, instead of the musician, the picture shows actor Sergei Garusov. In a comment to the picture, Shnurov himself wrote: “I took my old photo and pasted it on someone else’s photo. Like a schoolboy, for God’s sake. Bolonev later explained the photomontage as a joke.
In an interview on the White Noise YouTube channel in February 2023, Shnurov commented on his song Farewell, Elite, dedicated to artists leaving Russia.
“I can’t say for sure that they’re doing anything wrong here. But I will not do that. This position seems a little flawed to me, ”the musician shared his opinion. According to him, the loud statements and experiences of celebrities on social networks are contrived and overly ostentatious. The leader of Leningrad advised his colleagues not to spread their feelings to everyone, but to live them inside themselves.