Just in: Valentina Lisitsa is silenced by Dutch airline

Just in: Valentina Lisitsa is silenced by Dutch airline

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norman lebrecht

August 26, 2015

Ukrainian agitators have persuaded the Dutch airline KLM to take down audio tracks by the pro-Russian pianist from their in-flight entertainment. Valentina has expressed approval for Russia’s annexation of parts of Crimea and has performed with pro-Russian militants (pictured).

Inna Thorn, a Canada-based Ukrainian, wrote to KLM:

I traveled this August with KLM‬ from Canada to Netherlands and then to Ukraine and was appalled to see Valentina Lisitsa‬ being featured in your in-flight entertainment.

This year Ms. Lisitsa contract and concerts were cancelled by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra because of her heinous tweets where she calls Ukrainians “dog shit”, “pigs”, “nazi” and celebrates terrorists responsible for taking down MH17‬ and killing close to 300 people on board including nearly 200 Dutch citizens*.

I am certain the Dutch airline company KLM will reconsider their decision about including a xenophobic performer in their entertainment programming after being informed about Ms. Lisitsa’s other performance. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

lisitsa zakharchenko

 

KLM replied:

Dear Inna en Dmitry. First of all, please accept our apologies for the delay in the reply. We do appreciate passengers who reach out to us and point out something as sensitive and fragile as this matter. Our organization still mourns for the loss of the countless innocent lives lost on the MH17 flight. We regret that we were not able to catch this before, but have taken immediate action. The artist will be removed from the playlist in our Inflight Entertainment as soon as possible. Thank you once again for being observant and notifying us about this immediately.

 

* NL adds: This is an unfounded allegation. I don’t recall Valentina making any reference to the MH17. But she has given a celebratory concert in Donbass and mingled with the rebel militias.

Comments

  • basia jaworski says:

    Lisitza `calls Ukrainians “dog shit”, “pigs”, “nazi” and celebrates terrorists responsible for taking down MH17‬ and killing close to 300 people on board including nearly 200 Dutch citizens.`.

    Really? Did she, Norman? Where? And when?
    If so, she deserves a real punishment.

    • norman lebrecht says:

      I don’t recall her making any reference to the MH17. But she has given a celebratory concert in Donbass and mingled with the rebel militias.

      • Janis says:

        “I don’t recall her making any reference to the MH17.”

        ObDisclaimer: I don’t agree with her opinions, but … that’s kind of an important point, especially in this circumstance.

      • Igor says:

        Norman,

        In regards to your comment in the last paragraph: here is a nice summary of Lisitsa’s hateful, disparaging and borderline racist vitriol:

        http://ukrainianpolicy.com/why-valentina-lisitsa-was-fired/

        Specifically in this tweet she calls Ukrainians dogshit: http://ukrainianpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Screen-Shot-2015-04-10-at-2.55.11-PM-1024×289.png

        Tons of Nazi-baiting and other ridiculous and insensitive comments on the topic of Nazis, the Holocaust, etc.

        Nothing about pigs that I found, but it could be elsewhere.

        Now, I expect NL to add something else to the article, given the examples provided.

      • Dimas says:

        Lisitsa celebrates THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR the downing of MH17, not the act of the downing itself. It really should be enough for any civilized person.

        WQXR: The Ukrainian pianist gave an open-air concert Monday night in Donetsk, the rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine. Online videos show the pianist, wearing a bright red gown and seated at an off-pitch piano, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 before a large crowd. The program also featured nationalist anthems and speeches, including one by Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, who delivers a bouquet to Lisitsa.
        http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/valentina-lisitsa-gives-concert-ukraines-rebel-held-donetsk/

        Ms. Lisitsa glorifies a well known terrorist leader Igor Girkin (Strelkov), a Russian citizen with a background in Russian military who was among the first initiators of terrorist attacks in the East of Ukraine. Kremlin propaganda is working around the clock to sell in media its invasion of Ukraine as a “civil war”, but they could not even find local leaders and imported them from Russia. Girkin (Strelkov) was the one who reported that a presumably Ukrainian plane was shot down by his team on July 17, 2014, which happened to be not a Ukrainian plane but Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Close to 300 innocent people died in this horrific terrorist attack. These are the people Ms. Lisitsa reveres on her Twitter: https://valentinalisitsainfo.wordpress.com/supporting-terrorism/

        • Janis says:

          “Lisitsa celebrates THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR the downing of MH17, not the act of the downing itself. It really should be enough for any civilized person.”

          Again, I disagree with her opinions but … no, it is not “enough for any civilized person” to automatically equate the two, any more than it is to say that any patriotic American is obviously on the side of the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII or the unlawful detainment of people without trial at Guantanamo Bay. Not by a long shot.

          • Inna says:

            Nobody equates the two: the statement says Lisitsa celebrates the terrorists responsible for shooting down MH 17. What is not clear here?

          • Pianoman says:

            Inna, fair enough – in other words, you yourself are celebrating the Ukrainian army which is responsible for using forbidden cluster bombs, air-bombing of civilian areas, indiscriminate shellings, right? As well as the far-right Ukrainians responsible for the deaths of several dozens innocent civilians in Odessa on May 2nd last year, far-right Ukrainians that also have been on the frontlines?

      • Inna says:

        Dear Norman,

        I disagree with your statement “unfounded allegation”. My message to KLM says that Lisitsa celebrates terrorists responsible for taking down MH17‬ and there is plenty of proof to that where she posts celebratory comments regarding Girkin, Russian citizen who led the insurgency in East Ukraine and the one who announced proudly that Ukrainian plane has been shot down, which turned to be MH17. Russian veto on UN Tribunal to bring those responsible for MH 17 attack is rather telling in itself.

        I wonder what Lisitsa would tell to the families of victims on that plane and how would she explain why she speaks so fondly of Girkin and other terrorists.

        I have already shared the links with her tweets in the comments.

        • Pianoman says:

          Inna,

          There is no proof whatsoever for Girkin, or separatists, or Russia being involved in the downing of MH17. The official investigation has not even been able to verify with certainty what weapon brought the plane down. And the post by Girkin that you refer to was not authored by him, he has no account on vkontakte. It was based on hearsay from locals who heard a plane coming down from the skies, and made the rather expected conclusion that it was another military plane – after all, who wouldn’t have drawn such a conclusion in a territory where military planes were shot down (though at much lower altitudes) on a regular basis? Until any of your claims regarding MH17/Girkin/Lisitsa are verified, your comment is worth nothing.

          • Brit in Germany says:

            Your statement has been overtaken by events. The official investigation has made it clear that a Russian-supplied missile was involved in the downing of MH17.

    • Ilya Shlyakhter says:

      She attacked not Ukrainians but “enlightened Ukrainians” (svidomi ukraintsi), a self-ascribed name for Western-leaning Ukrainians: a political, not an ethnic, group. Political attacks, however crude, are not hate speech or xenophobia. Smearing political opponents with false accusations of hate speech does not promote civility.

      That said, KLM’s dropping her from in-flight entertainment is less objectionable than TSO’s cancelling her live performance.

      • Ro says:

        Hullo, Ilya

        One can only faintly reward your skeptical and belated introduction to reality

        • Ilya Shlyakhter says:

          Btw, I have previously explained this point specifically to Inna Thorn, which evidently did not stop her from repeating the smear in her letter to KLM.

          • Inna says:

            Dear Ilya Shlyakhter,

            Ms. Lisitsa, as all of us, should take responsibility for her speech. It was not me who produced all the heinous tweets where Lisitsa shows Ukrainians as mentally ill, uses images of pigs for Ukrainians, suggested Russia should send more troops to finish it in 3 days. Would you explain what “finish” means here? The list goes on and on. She is the one who goes to the Russian Embassy in Ottawa after the TSO decision and announces after her concert in occupied Donetsk. Lisitsa was the one to launch a smear campaign against the Toronto Symphony leadership following her concerts’ cancellations. She also suggested in her interview to Russian media that Ukrainians in Canada and classic music do not intersect. That is how she explains the reaction to her outrageous tweets. She could have come out and apologized to all those she insulted. Instead she continues to insult and used the scandal to advance her own popularity and bring more Kremlin propaganda into Canadian media space.

            I remember you flooding with comments any reference to Lisitsa in Canadian media, so I am not sure why supporting someone’s xenophobia like you do should have an influence on my judgement of the heinous material Lisitsa has been spewing into the social media. My origin country is under attack. It would be bad enough to support Russian aggression against a sovereign Ukraine, yet Lisitsa went far beyond expressing a political view.

            KLM as any other company is free to choose which artists they want to promote. There are plenty of talented pianists that focus on prompting music, love and peace around the world to feature, would you agree?

            One thing is clear that denial and blame are the integral parts of the “Lisitsa defence club”.

      • Tamara says:

        Dear Ilya,

        we already exchanged comments on the previous articles.
        Lisitsa tryes to show that she attacks only “svidomi” ukrainians, but it is now true. Because when she represents Ukrainians as pigs, while seeing Ukraine from extériour – it is insulting any Ukrainian – of ukrainian, russian, polish, or whatewer origin or of mixed origins.
        She even gone so far as accusing a children organization in England being nazi, by exposing ia big nazi embleme, which she took from the nazi flag, being under feet of a Ukrainian soldier.. Nazi flag was under his feet, together with the communist flag, showing that ukrainian army was agains Nazi and against Soviets.
        But Lisitsa, by her fake picture, tried to present completely different story about ukrainians and nazis.

        Lisistsa does this all the time – presenting ukrainian organizations, people, situations completely in a false way, by trafficking photos.

        More questions ? Don`t hesitty, I can give you many er examples.

        Thanks,
        Tamara

        • Ilya Shlyakhter says:

          Caricaturing political entities (states or parties) as animals is well within the bounds of political satire. The message of the cartoon — that Europe sees Ukraine as a provincial backwater — while harsh, is also within these bounds. By no stretch is this xenophobic. When you critique Russia’s actions, is that xenophobic against Russians? The pro-Ukraine side routinely equates Putin with Hitler, and employs a battallion with troubling ideology ( http://goo.gl/z8amxq ), so Nazi references should be seen in that context. In any case, none of this negates the fact that Inna Thorn deliberately mistranslated “svidomi ukraintsi” as just “Ukrainians” in her letter to KLM. That alone should cause “svidomi” people to take her words with caution. If you excuse Thorn’s sleight-of-hand in this serious context, you can’t criticize Lisitsa’s sleights-of-hand in satirical context where there’s more leeway.

          • jaypee says:

            Can you imagine Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Alfred Brendel, Radu Lupu, Pierre-Laurent Aimard or Leif Ove Andsnes “caricaturing political entities (states or parties) as animals”? I don’t.
            You know why they wouldn’t degrade themselves doing that? Because they have class. And because they know how to use their talent for something constructive. Unlike your queen of twitter…

            At least she’s finally getting a taste of her own medicine. Funny that someone who owes her reputation to social media will also disappear in oblivion because of social media.

  • jaypee says:

    A quick look to her twitter account will prove quite eloquently that she completely lost it.
    Paranoia, xenophobia, vulgarity, insults…
    Daniel Baremboim should teach her a thing or two…

    • Lovedamusic says:

      Barenboim wouldn’t give Valentina the time of day – she falls well below the level of artist that he would engage.

  • rothmere says:

    Take note, Toronto Symphony and @klm are in embryon propaganga instruments of the state. this is the new normal where individuals and artists must sign off and support the party line or be as denounced as degenerate figureheads of controversy. The aim is to reinforce ‘911 shellshock’ dystopia so we will believe the banks and regimes’ disinformation. When they come for your liberty or bank balance it will be to ‘protect’ you. They are protecting us from Valentina’s and others’ psychosis that is actually the crack in the stone of truth’s flower, you see. When it’s clear that banking and political neocon interests of murderous state sponsored (not Russian) regime change in #Ukraine is the gravamen for all that continues to foment and follow. Read a just little history and you will see here the prelude to identical corporate ideological and capital $ maneuvers preceding WW2 ie investments to open markets for distressed and repurposed assets plus more debt. Now, even if she has been indelicate in expressing her opinions/horror, first she took care to keep it away from her professional info streams. But free speech is just that particularly when western values must be the standard not exception. And frankly it’s past time when the oligarchs and eurogarchs be denounced as antithesis of liberty and safe civil societies rather it’s their adventurism that creates terror threats. More dissent against (ironically) philistines in art and in the ranks is needed not containment of truth. Peace.

    • V.Lind says:

      The merits or otherwise of Valentina Lisitsa’s position have been lost in this controversy, for which she alone is responsible. It is her hate speech, not her free speech, that has so angered people. Her tweets not long before the Toronto engagement were vile, and naturally outraged both a beleaguered people and all others who believe discourse, while it can be vigorous, should not be so evil.

      Slipped Disc seems to have dropped her as a favourite because it has finally accepted that she is pro-Russian in this matter. (Anyone who supports Putin in any way is automatically excommunicated from balanced treatment on SD). It seemed to have no problem with her vicious and filthy comments while it struggled to justify her position as the poor victim of censorship.

      Lost in all of this — and this is nt quite the forum for it, but the subject keeps arising because of this blonde bimbo — is a reasoned review of the virtues and vices of BOTH sides. It might be expected, in this age of nationalisms, that one would ultimately come down on one side or the other based on national allegiance. But the Lisitsa controversy has never been about the merits of the geo-politics of Russia and Ukraine: it is about the right of organisations, be they the TSO or KLM, to dissociate themselves from a nasty and foul-mouthed individual who does not merely pick her side but spews hate against the other in the most disgusting terms. She has done no-one any service here.

    • Milka says:

      But one must be careful when telling the truth in Russia ,and not cross any bridges
      while telling the truth … you won’t make it across…. and I don’t mean Peace bridge.

  • Al Gor says:

    Is there any proof of the BUK rocket launch? The BUK theory was created by US government but they did not show any evidence at all. They did not even name the coordinates of the launch! Why coordinates are secret? There are no videos of the launch from local people. There are no pictures of the launch site made by any of that hundreds of journalists who visited the crash site. All these stories about TELAR do not matter if there was no rocket launch.
    And, by the way, do not use anybody’s words as a proof. Joe Biden, for example, said that 23 Americans were killed there. What happened to their bodies?
    Instead of showing the proof the “free” western medias repeat again and again and again: “Rebels are guilty”. Exactly like Joseph Goebbels recommended: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come believing it.”

  • Stuard Young says:

    I find this whole Valentina Lisitsa story confusing. Perhaps it is too convoluted, or I have missed a piece of be puzzle. Here is my distillation of what I know: Ms. Lisitsa, an excellent concert pianist from Ukraine, jump-started a waning concert career by savvy utilization of social media. Not long after her career began to take off, she sabotaged it by outspokenly supporting the Russian takeover of parts of her homeland, criticizing the Ukrainian government for its Western leanings, while she makes her home in Middle America. Curiouser and curiouser this gets. I suppose I must look up her Twitter feed to understand whom she hates……..

    • Tom Crown says:

      Your understanding of the situation is somewhat incorrect. A few facts to correct it:
      – Lisitsa is a Ukrainian-born American pianist who moved to the US with her husband after winning a number of international competitions;
      – She went pretty much broke in the US, unable to launch a career until she and her husband decided to post her recordings on YouTube, where she was discovered by the general public and became the most successful classical performer ever based on the number of views her performances generated. She received solid critical praise as a classical performer and has gone to perform at some of the A-list venues in the world. Her musical credibility is solid
      – Earlier this year, as she was about to come to Toronto to perform with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, she issued a public plea asking her fans to support her in what later became publicly known as a cancellation of her performance by the TSO. The reason given by the TSO had to do with her highly polarizing tweets that expressed her disgust with Ukraine’s new regime and her support for the people of Ukraine’s east where a civil war and fighting is now raging.
      – unfortunately, mass media label anyone who is anti-Ukraine government a supporter of Russia/Putin, etc… which is not the case. It’s a major fallacy that has been perpetuated by many, including Norman Lebrecht and this blog.
      – The response to the TSO cancellation has not been unanimous, with the majority actually decrying the cancellation as an attempt to silence artist’s views on her own country. Keep in mind that a number of lawyers had reviewed the messages and tweets Lisitsa posted and none were found to be ‘hate speech’ (as claimed by the TSO), nor were any actually racist, xenophobic or any other kind of -‘Phobic” as again many claim. They are highly offensive and aggressive, but not hateful in the legal sense, nor do they target any ethnic group. They primarily, sarcastically, out idiocies of political movements currently carving Ukraine into pieces
      – Lisitsa herself does not reside in the US any longer – she moved to Paris a while back and has continued to enjoy an illustrious career. She appeared earlier this year in a peaceful concert in Donbas, one of the separatist regions, that is currently in a state of civil war against the Ukraine government.

  • hjk says:

    “Pro-Russian pianist”- Actually shes a Ukrainian pianist (and don’t you forget it) and after a foreign backed dictatorship was installed in her country and ordered a military crackdown on anti-government protesters in the countries east she played a concert to citizens and a rag-tag militia in a militarily besieged city. Of course had Ukraine’s last democratically elected President Yanukovych ordered a military crackdown on anti-government protesters and militias in Ukraines West in early 2014 and had Lisitsa played a concert there you would be calling for her to get a Nobel Peace prize (like that buffoon Davide Martello on your blog). But race comes first, after all, and Great Britain’s vital security interests and investment need to be protected, don’t they.

    • Gonout Backson says:

      Excuse me – “a foreign backed dictatorship”? After two democratic elections officially recognized in Moscow itself?

  • Tom Crown says:

    Further to NL’s ‘addendum’ – the concert Lisitsa gave in Donbas (Donetsk to be exact) – was not “celebratory” as you state. It was billed as a “Requiem-concert on the day of Remembrance and Mourning”. Hardly a celebration.

  • Inna says:

    Dear Mr. Lebrecht,

    I saw your article where you reference my message to KLM. https://slippedisc.com/2015/08/just-in-valentina-lisitsa-is-banned-by-dutch-airline/ Thank you for it.

    You make a note “This is an unfounded allegation. I don’t recall Valentina making any reference to the MH17. But she has given a celebratory concert in Donbass and mingled with the rebel militias.”

    My message does not say that Lisitsa states something about MH17, it says she celebrates same terrorists responsible for MH 17 attack. To support this statement I attached to my message the following tweet of Ms. Lisitsa where she glorifies Girkin, who led the insurgency and was the one announcing a plane is shot down, which turned to be MH17. https://valentinalisitsainfo.wordpress.com/supporting-terrorism/

    If it is possible to quote me in full and add the link, it will be most appreciated.

    Thank you,

    Inna

    • norman lebrecht says:

      It is enough for the link to be added in your comment.

    • Holger H. says:

      This Orwellian “terrorism” nonsense has to stop. The – unlawful or not – militants in Eastern Ukraine, are separatists, not terrorists. The unrest in Eastern Ukraine started, after there was a Western (more precisely US) orchestrated coup in Kiew and the new regime voiced anti-Russian sentiments against the people in Eastern Ukraine, who identify as Russians.

      • Inna says:

        You will do the world a big favour if you stop spreading propaganda crafted by the Orwellian state Russia.

        Also, please remind me what Girkin, Russian citizen, never a Donbass local, who led the insurgency in East Ukraine and was the one announcing proudly that Ukrainian plane was taking down, which turned to be MH17, has to do with East Ukraine?!

        Either you are a Putin troll and part of their mega propaganda machine or someone rather uninformed.

  • Roman Kosarenko says:

    Norman, I am confused by your footnote re: “unfounded allegation”. Is it the allegation that she celebrated the terrorists, or is it the allegation that the separatists shot down MH17? Can you be more specific?

  • Milka says:

    Mr. Crown does his clever best to seem evenhanded but is so transparent as to
    be laughable .

  • Olaugh Turchev says:

    From her own publicly posted resume dated 2013, Inna (Platonova) Thorn has served as an intern, first at the Parliament of Ukraine, US Embassy America House in Kiev in 1997/1998 then a program assistant at the US Association of former Members of Congress in Kiev in 1998, an intern for the Canadian Ukrainian parliamentary program in the House of Common in Ottawa 2001 and finally an intern and then Project Staff at the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels 2002/2003 completing reports on the natural gas laws and transportation in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
    Let’s add that she also holds among other diplomas, a MA in European Public Affairs (2002) focusing on natural gas transit/transportation and regulation in Ukraine from the University of… Maastricht.
    For the past decade, she has gained professional experience in the desirable field of sustainable energy and climate change.
    Perfection exists.

    • Inna says:

      I just spent about a week in the Netherlands visiting my friend from Maastricht times. People are very upset about MH17 and Russia’s obstructing the investigation and putting a veto against UN tribunal to bring those responsible for the horrible attack to justice. Seems like there is no village, town or city in the country which has not lost its people in this horrific attack.

      So I was rather shocked to see Lisitsa on the Dutch company KLM list.

      There is no ambiguity in this matter. It is so wrong to promote war propaganda which spreads the hatred between people and justifies the war, destruction and bloodshed.

  • Holger H. says:

    The letter of Inna Thorn is full of false accusations and blurry conjecture. It would not survive 30 seconds in a court, were AL to sue her. (not worth it anyway)
    We are living in big brother times. War is peace. Lies are the truth.
    Good night.

    • Inna says:

      Really?! Lisitsa posted those horrible tweets for everyone to see, not me. Everyone saw and got insulted and wrote many letters to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra team looked at the most insulting tweets and agreed they don’t want to associate with such a performer. PERIOD!

      If there was any prospect of a winning legal case, Lisitsa’s lawyers would be all over it. Don’t you think?! Yet, nothing, just a big PR to advance own popularity and promote more war propaganda of Kremlin.

      If ever there is a legal case launched by Lisitsa, it will be just another PR move to attract media attention. Just seat back and watch how Kremlin propagandists will use this case.

  • Tom Crown says:

    Dear Mr. Lebrecht, you have responded to and corrected many of your own inaccuracies, yet you fail to address the point I bring up above – the concert Lisitsa played in Donetsk was not “celebratory” as you state. It was a memorial/requiem concert on the day of remeberance and mourning. Anyone who can speak / read Russian will be able to translate the posters for you. While the difference may seem trivial, its implication is substantial, as I am sure many, though not all, would agree.

    Can you please correct this in your original article footnote lest your credibility suffer any more and facts be misrepresented?

    • CDH says:

      Can you please correct this in your original article footnote lest your credibility suffer any more and facts be misrepresented?

      Surely you jest … since when was misrepresentation of facts ever an issue here? It’s a signature!

    • Milka says:

      It is interesting to read how the russian apologist Crown presents himself as a stickler
      for” correct facts” . First you invade a country, kill by the thousands , create chaos to
      no end, then you give a concert and call it a requiem concert in memory of those you have murdered. Seems more like a celebratory concert no matter the poster , unless of
      course one can truly note it a requiem memorial concert for the russian barbarians that
      died while invading the Ukraine . As for the pianist Lisitsa ons suspects she would
      perform at out house openings if it would keep her name before the public .

    • Inna says:

      Dear Tom,

      Did you notice Lisitsa announced her concert in occupied Donest right after being invited to the Russian Embassy where she performed and took pictures with Russian Federation diplomats? Do you really think you can have a concert in occupied territory just by having your agent book a venue and flying there?! Ms. Lisitsa looked rather happy and content accepting flowers from the leader of insurgency launched by Russia against Ukraine and which brought thousands of death, also looked quite happy taking pictures and mingling with famous Kremlin propagandists who are by no means locals and giving numerous interviews to Russian state-owned media.

      Hence, please check the facts before you suggest corrections about something you lack knowledge of.

      • Holger H. says:

        There are no good sides in that conflict, and VL’s tweets are ugly, no doubt, but the propagandistic extreme one-sidedness of your POV is telling.
        The thousands of death in Ukraine are caused primarily by a US of A for years stirring unrest and in the end orchestrating a successful coup in Kiev. The geopolitical hegemonial strategies of the US are known, including the specific role Ukraine should play in the US master plan for the 21st century. No need to reiterate.
        Those are the facts, many greater statesmen – even from the US (e.g. Kissinger) – have assessed the situation clearly as such.
        So please spare us the false sense of entitlement to the truth from your side. You side with the winner, with the stronger, but that does not mean truth is on your side.

        • Inna says:

          There is plenty of evidence of Russian weapons being used to kill people in East Ukraine, Russian regular army is involved and Russian hires. All efforts are made to engage local population, so Russia can sell their “civil war” story, which is a construct of Kremlin propaganda. Please remind me who Girkin was?!

          So, take off your pro-Putin blinders and start applying basic logic.

      • Inna says:

        Please check the facts and also check the photo of very happy Lisitsa posing with Kremlin propagandist from Russia in occupied city Donetsk right after performance. https://valentinalisitsainfo.wordpress.com/concert-in-donetsk/

  • roadwish (@roadwish1) says:

    KLM is wrong on so many levels , anyways never gonna use their service again !

  • Inna says:

    Misleading title. #KLM does not want to associate themselves with xenophobic performers, nobody stops or jails #Lisitsa as they do in Russia for criticizing government. She continues to have her twitter and all other means to speak.

    It was same in Canada, she was falsely presenting herself as a victim of censorship. How convenient ))

    • Karen says:

      Inna, how very convenient for you indeed 😉

      • Inna says:

        Convenient for me would be to enjoy a pleasant flight and not be exposed to vulgarism and hatred from Lisitsa.

        • batavian01 says:

          You can select the tracks you want to listen to. The entertainment centre is there for everyone, not just Ukrainians or Ukrainian ex-patriots. You don’t have to listen to Lusitsa or anyone else for that matter. KLM got this entirely wrong.

  • Ab Omen says:

    Great criminal cause against this stalker spewing hatred on Canadian soil – Inna Thorn , a Maidan sponsored activist, well known to the community as a staunched Ukrainian nationalist involved in harassment of those who have a different opinion on events in Ukraine.

    • Inna says:

      I suppose we all will have to believe a Putin troll flooding every possible online discussion in Canada on war.

      Yes, please bring the legal case-criminal case! Donbass people evacuated to Odessa we help need a lot of support. Court ordered compensation will help a lot: to buy food, shoes, clothing, personal hygiene products. There are about 700 orphaned children to help and thousands of refugees – do the math and go ahead to the court.

      • batavian01 says:

        Who created these orphans and refugees? Who is responsible for (min) 6,200 deaths in the Donetsk and Lugansk? Which side has moved heavy heavens into the accord’s restricted zone so they create yet more orphans and refugees.

  • J. Philip Jimenez says:

    The terrorists responsible for MH17 are the Ukrainian Nazi thugs in Kiev. The jetliner was shot down by a Ukrainian fighter jet. The financial terrorist Kolomoisky practically admitted it. Hysterical anti-Russian propaganda is consistently counterfactual and depressingly stupid. Those who actively supported the fascist Putsch in Kiev in Feb. 2014 should be arrested.

    • Dignity says:

      and that is why Russia obstructs the investigation and vetoed tribunal vote for MH 17 to bring those responsible to justice.

      Please name one nazi in Ukrainian government. Ahh, no response. I thought so.

      You might want to get off your Putin propaganda box and paranoia might pass.

  • Moonshiner says:

    Бывшим соотечественникам и остальным кто здесь трещит своим порванным очком
    1-Разве Голландский суд уже назвал виновных и уже отменил Международные законы о полётах гражданской авиации которые гласят,что 100% ответственность за безопасность полётов НЕСЁТ страна над которой упал самолёт? Самолёт был сбит и упал над Украиной,так что не надо тут трупы пассажиров вешать на пианистку-ВИНОВАТА УКРАИНА КОТОРАЯ НАПРАВИЛА САМОЛЁТ В ЗОНУ БОЕВЫХ ДЕЙСТВИЙ,кто стрелял ополчение или войска Киевской хунты АБСОЛЮТНО БЕЗ РАЗНИЦЫ
    2-Всем ноющим тут о погибших с авиалайнера,пора узнать что КАЖДЫЙ ДЕНЬ войска Киевской хунты артиллерией убивают по несколько мирных человек в день и более 10 людей получают ранения,данные обстрелы ведутся не по сепаратистским военным подразделениям,а по жилым районам где живут мирные люди
    3-европейцам хочу напомнить,что перед тем как сбили малайский Боинг кто разжигал Майдан-это ваши же европроститутки из еропарламента и евробюрократии-они с трибун Майдана призывали к войне и обещали еврорай для этой толпы тупых и глупых украинцев-Россия вас предупреждала что начнётся гражданская война в Украине и вот война началась
    4-что то не видел я особой печали когда в Одессе сожгли заживо более 60 человек-ВДУМАЙТЕСЬ В ЕВРОПЕ ЛЮДИ КОТОРЫХ ПОДДЕРЖИВАЛ ЕС УМЫШЛЕННО СОЖГЛИ ДРУГИХ ЛЮДЕЙ и в ЕС молчок,никто не требует никаких трибуналов и.т.д
    5-КЛМ ещё своё получит,сейчас в России подниму паблик и политиков ,дабы в рамках ответных санкций ИМЕННО КЛМ запретили пролёт над территорией России-думаю её место быстро займут арабы,тайцы и японцы-так что за ччто боролись нато и напоролись

  • jaypee says:

    Obviously, the pro-Putin trolls just discovered this website.

    • Gonout Backson says:

      No, they didn’t – they have been here from Day One. repeating the same nonsense over and over again. Apparently – even in the original Russian now…

  • Milka says:

    The majority of russians are like any backward people , they bow to the boss that
    puts food on their table …for the more enlightened they are shot dead while crossing
    bridges others face phony court trials .It was always thus in mother russia .

    • batavian01 says:

      How many enlightened opponents of the Kiev junta have been murdered since the coup?

      • Gonout Backson says:

        This “junta”, as you so elegantly call it, has been elected in two democratic votes, internationally recognized as valid – even in Moscow.

      • Gonout Backson says:

        Funny how quickly the putinesque trolls disappear – when one mentions the Ukrainian free elections. Twice in this thread only. They spit their insults and lies, and fffft – there they go.

        Must be the good old “Devil and Holy Water” syndrome.

  • Mireille says:

    Would KLM have taken this decision if it would harm their business in any way? Certainly not. Therefore, it is rooted in hypocracy and opportunism and a clear violation of democracy and the freedom of speech. If not, then fine: let’s check the internet and make a list of people whose opinions are not in line with the ‘general public opinion’ (leaving aside what exactly that is and how it is formed) and ban them from our concert halls, planes, shops, schools etc. and marginalise them as much as possible. Rings a bell, doesn’t it?

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