Pro-Putin opera star Anna Netrebko set for Paris concert
Read NV on Google
Putin supporter Anna Netrebko will give a concert in Paris (Photo: Théâtre des Champs-Élysées)
Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, a vocal supporter of Vladimir Putin, is scheduled to perform at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on June 18, 2026, according to the theater’s official website.
Netrebko will be joined on stage by fellow Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Maximova. The program features works by Italian composers Vincenzo Bellini and Ruggero Leoncavallo, alongside pieces by Russian composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
The Paris engagement is part of a broader European tour beginning May 1, with stops in Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, and Spain.
Netrebko’s career has been mired in political controversy for over a decade. In 2012, she endorsed Vladimir Putin for president, and in 2014, she donated money to an opera house in occupied Donetsk while the city was under the control of Russian-backed "DPR" forces.
Following the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Metropolitan Opera in New York terminated her contract after she declined to condemn the war.
Despite the backlash, Netrebko continues to find venues in Europe. On Dec. 7, 2024, she starred in a production at Milan’s La Scala, and in April 2025, she opened the season at London’s Royal Opera House. The London performance proceeded in September 2025 despite protests outside the venue and a collective letter from 50 cultural and political figures in the U.K., France, and New Zealand calling for her removal.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.K., criticized the singer’s continued platform in a column for the Daily Mail, reminding readers that Netrebko famously posed with a separatist "Novorossiya" flag alongside pro-Russian former Ukrainian MP Oleg Tsaryov back in 2014.
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
