Russian Rapper Oxxxymiron Cancels St. Petersburg & Moscow Shows To Protest Invasion Of Ukraine

Oxxxymiron
 – Oxxxymiron

Russian rapper Oxxxymiron was supposed to take the stage at the 4,000-capacity A2 Green Concert in St. Petersburg, Russia, early next month, followed by a run of shows at the 7,000-capacity Adrenaline Stadium in Moscow, but he’s called off the gigs to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

His website’s landing page now simply says “??? ?????,” which translates to “No War.”
“I know that most people in Russia are against this war, and I am confident that the more people would talk about their real attitude to it, the faster we can stop this horror,” Oxxxymiron said in a statement translated by The New York Times (via Pitchfork). “I cannot entertain you when Russian missiles are falling on Ukraine—when residents of Kyiv are forced to hide in basements and in the metro, while people are dying.”
The shows were booked March 4-5 at A2 Green Concert and March 11-13 at Adrenaline Stadium. Billboard notes that the sold-out concerts would have marked the rapper’s first headline tour in five years. 
Anti-war protests took place in public squares and outside Russian embassies around the world on Thursday, including in Russia itself, where “protesters defied an official warning that explicitly threatened criminal prosecution and even jail time for those calling for or taking part in protests,” according to Reuters. The news agency reported that rallies were held in cities including Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, with 600 protestors arrested in Moscow alone.