Italy Has Canceled A Performance By Putin's Favorite Ballerina

• 18.03.2026, 12:08

Zakharova will not be able to take part in the Star Gala in Rome.

A well-known Russian ballerina who also hails from Ukraine, Svetlana Zakharova, has been excluded from a gala concert that will begin in Rome this month, organizers said.

As Reuters reports, it has become yet another political controversy over the participation of Russian artists in cultural events in Italy. The agency reports that Zakharova, a star of Moscow's Bolshoi Theater, is a strong supporter of President Vladimir Putin.

She was scheduled to perform at the "Stars" gala in the Italian capital on March 20-21.

Organizers of the gala said that in deciding to exclude Zakharova, they had received "institutional messages ... that emphasize the symbolic responsibility of cultural institutions in the current context."

Prime Minister Georgia Meloni is a staunch supporter of the Ukraine war and sanctions against Russia. They said there was a risk that the event would be "misunderstood or misused for self-serving purposes" despite their hope to build ties through art.

Zakharova's exclusion came after the Venice Biennale's controversial decision to reopen its Russian pavilion, which has been closed since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, for this year's biennale, which runs from May to November.