Grammy nominee played in Ukraine for Russian occupiers
NewsThe Kremlin mouthpiece newspaper Izvestia has published video of US and Russian citizen Igor Butman entertaining the occupation forces in the war-crime zone.
‘We are looking forward to meeting our heroes in order to perform, play and create a good mood for them,’ said Butman in July.
Now Putin’s pal on a long list for next week’s Grammy awards.
Watch here.
Back when I worked in Moscow, Butman was a friend of the U.S. Embassy; probably not going to be on this year’s Christmas Card list.
Grammy may not know, that Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on Russian Sanctions has recently published a list of 166 Russian public opinion leaders, artists and so-called intellectuals who promote Russian propaganda narratives and should be subject to sanctions.
https://fsi.stanford.edu/working-group-sanctions
“Their activities are unrelated to journalism, freedom of expression, or scholarship; they fall into activities that purposely and deliberately help Russian war effort in Ukraine” – written in expert opinion.
Igor Butman is number 19.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KYUyliFLfom0cAkv3R0hsJdEQu9oUV4l/view
Butman is a US citizen, so I think he might get that Christmas card.
I’ve been wondering if there is a procedure to revoke someone’s citizenship if that person promotes military interventions, supports war crimes, hangs out with dictators and actively participates in politics on behalf of another power.
He was playing in Russia…
It is incorrect to refer to him as a Grammy nominee. He is merely eligible to be nominated, as are hundreds of others (on what you call the ‘long list’). Only people actually nominated for the Grammy Award can be called nominees.
Exactly! Everyone eligible can get on that “long list”. Butman has no shame and decency, I wouldn’t be surprised if he “nominated” himself.
how does this involve classical music?