Pro-Kremlin singer holds protest outside US embassy
Pro-Kremlin singer Shaman
A pro-Kremlin singer staged a protest in front of the US embassy in Moscow on Friday, angry at his Western social media accounts being blocked.
Shaman, whose nationalist songs include "I'm Russian" and "My Fight", was sanctioned by the European Union last month for supporting Russia's full-scale military offensive on Ukraine. His channels on YouTube and Spotify were subsequently banned.
Shaman, whose real name is Yaroslav Dronov, said he was staging the protest after "America blocked my YouTube channel just because I'm Russian."
"Nobody will ever ban our songs," the singer said in a video message on his Telegram channel.
Hundreds rallied in front of the embassy on Friday evening, chanting slogans in support of Russia's offensive and singing Shaman songs. A giant image of the Russian flag was projected onto the building.
Anti-Kremlin protests are illegal in Russia, with organisers and participants facing years in prison for participating. But the government encourages and supports pro-regime rallies.
Google-owned YouTube has blocked dozens of accounts that it says are linked to Russian state-funded media and figures that aggressively support Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine.
Shaman has surged into the national spotlight amid the conflict, with Russian authorities having embraced and promoted cultural figures like him in a bid to spread their pro-offensive, anti-Western message across society.
He has repeatedly given concerts to Russian troops in parts of Ukraine they have occupied and is an ardent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic penal colony in February, said Shaman's "I am Russian" song was blared on speakers throughout the prison at 5:00 am every morning, just after the Russian national anthem.
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