Moscow — Former star of the Royal Ballet Sergei Polunin, known for his tattoos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, announced on Wednesday that he plans to leave Russia. The Ukrainian-Russian dancer was one of the most famous stars who supported Russia unilateral annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its military offensive against Ukraine. He was awarded prestigious government posts.
In a messy form, with a spelling mistake message on his Instagram Palunin wrote: “My time in Russia has long ended, now it seems that I have fulfilled my mission here.”
The post first appeared on his unread Telegram account on Sunday.
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35-year-old Palunin did not give a specific reason for leaving, but said: “Thank you for everything that Russia has done for me. The time comes, and the soul feels that it is not where it should be.”
He said that he is leaving with his family – his wife Alena and three children, but “where we will go is still unclear.”
In the summer, the dancer complained about the lack of security and said that he was being watched.
Polunin, who was born in Ukraine, supported Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014 — a prelude to the current, a full-scale invasion of Ukraine which Putin launched in February 2022.
The dancer received Russian citizenship in 2019. He was appointed acting head of the dance academy in the largest city of occupied Crimea, Sevastopol, and director of the city's opera and ballet theater, for which a large new building is being built.
Even last year, he was awarded by Putin for his role in popularizing the dance. But in August, he was replaced as the head of the Academy of Dance by the former prima of the Bolshoi Theater, Maria Alexandrova, and a week ago, the Minister of Arts of Russia, Olga Lyubimova, announced that the singer Ildar Abdrazakov will take over as director of the theater.
This happened after on December 9, Palunin published a post on social media saying that he is “very sorry for the people” who live in a heavily bombed village near the Ukrainian city of Kherson, “where the Polunin generation grew up, and my Russian grandfather built a small house with his own hands.”
He urged Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, saying even “the worst deal would be better than war.”
“I hope for the humanity of the President of Russia and if there is a possibility of a normal professional conversation with Trump,” Palunin wrote then. “It is better to show willpower and kindness yourself and start negotiations.”
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At the age of 13, Polunin received a scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet School in London and became its youngest dancer in history.
With his tattoos – including a large image of Putin's face on his chest – and his rebellious attitude, he became known as the “bad boy of ballet” and caused a sensation when he quit the Royal Ballet at the height of his fame in 2012.
He later directed a 2015 hit with an Irish musician Hozier's song “Take Me to Church” and was the star of a 2016 documentary called The Dancer.
He moved on to perform in the ballet of the Stanislavsky Moscow Music Theater before embarking on a solo career, appearing in dance productions in roles including the mystical Grigory Rasputin.
In 2019, he posed for AFP with a large tattoo of Putin on his chest, which he later added to two of Putin's faces on both shoulders. He also has a large Ukrainian trident on his right hand.
This year he took part in Putin's re-election campaign as a celebrity fan.