The sound of silence

While the Kremlin promotes pro-war singers and punishes anti-war ones, Russia’s biggest hits come from those who say nothing

Russia’s domestic censorship leaves almost no space for criticism of the war against Ukraine in music, while the Kremlin actively promotes pro-war artists like Shaman, funneling resources and media coverage their way. Yet in 2025, many of the country’s most-listened-to musicians were those who have remained silent on the war — including some who openly support the Putin regime. Meduza shares a translation of Verstka Media’s roundup of artists who have avoided speaking about the war and the politics behind their silence.

MACAN: Tacit support for the war

“They’re writing all kinds of things — don’t pay attention. I’m going to serve,” the 23-year-old rapper MACAN (real name Andrey Kosolapov) wrote on his Telegram channel in mid-October, responding to rumors that he had ignored six draft notices. A month later, Russia’s National Guard press service published photos of the rapper alongside other new conscripts and announced that he would be serving in its Separate Operational Purpose Division (ODON). The agency also reminded readers that in his song “Is It Easy to Be Young?” MACAN sings: “Glory to Russia — where you’re born is where you’ll be useful.”

In 2024, MACAN did indeed prove “useful” to the Russian state — as an effective messenger for nationalist sentiment. VK named him its Artist of the Year, citing more than 800 million streams, and recognized his album BRATLAND as Album of the Year. On Yandex Music, MACAN was dubbed the platform’s “king of likes”: users added tracks from his album to their libraries more than any others. Last summer, he performed at VTB Arena to a crowd of roughly 40,000.

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Now something of a meme among young Russians, MACAN mostly raps about love and cars. He has never openly endorsed the invasion of Ukraine, but he has repeatedly signaled his nationalistic stance. In August 2023, he performed at a boxing tournament at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium and said he would be willing to fight himself — but only against a foreign opponent. “This is a very important time for the country right now, and I wouldn’t want to fight a compatriot,” he said. “So if the league can bring in an opponent from abroad, from outside the country, then I’m 100 percent ready.”

Soon after that, pro-Kremlin censorship activist Ekaterina Mizulina called MACAN “the most Russian rapper.” The performer began reciting prayers onstage and chanting “Glory to Russia!” along with his fans.

Anna Asti: Silence amid Russian shelling

“Hi everyone, this is Anna Asti, and I want you to guess a few words in my native Ukrainian,” the singer (real name Dzyuba) said in a lighthearted TikTok video posted on February 21, 2022. The clip didn’t age well: three days later, Russian missiles were raining down on her hometown of Cherkasy. According to Ukrainian bloggers, she was hiding in Kyiv from the shelling at the time.

Since then, Dzyuba has not publicly acknowledged her Ukrainian origins again. In October 2023, media reports indicated that she obtained Russian citizenship. She has never commented on the war in Ukraine, though she has repeatedly faced threats of “cancellation” in Russia. After attending blogger Nastya Izleeva’s scandalous “almost naked party” in 2023, Asti’s concerts were canceled, and she was warned that her Russian citizenship could be revoked.

Singers who openly support the full-scale war have criticized her for staying silent about it. In the nearly three years since it began, Asti has not once directly expressed support for Russia. Meanwhile, she hangs out with legendary pop singer Philipp Kirkorov, attends high-profile parties, and put off obtaining a Russian passport until the very last moment. “In Ukraine, she’s hated as a traitor to her homeland. In Russia, people think Anna is here only for the money,” the singer Vika Tsyganova wrote.

None of this seems to have dented her popularity in Russia. In 2025, VK Music named Asti “Artist of the Year” for the second consecutive year, with more than 280 million streams. Over the summer, her concert at Moscow’s VEB Arena drew roughly 30,000 spectators, with Kirkorov appearing onstage alongside her. Earlier, after the aforementioned “almost naked party,” Kirkorov traveled to the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” and performed for Russian troops.

Under the TikTok video where Asti speaks Ukrainian, fans continue to defend her today: “Anna Asti, are you Ukrainian? I don’t care — I adore you anyway, I’ve been listening to you since childhood.”

Miyagi & Andy Panda: Silent condemnation

While brother goes against brother

Paper rustles in their pockets.

Who needs this for profit?

Brazenly shoving patriotism down everyone’s throats.

The system is wobbling, it’s having a seizure.

People driven into a corner,

Propaganda breathing poison.

These are lines from a song by the rapper TumaniYO (Alexander Seleznyov), recorded together with the duo Miyagi and Andy Panda and released in February 2024. Back in 2017, both rappers were added to Myrotvorets, an unofficial Ukrainian database of people accused of colluding with Russia or supporting pro-Russian separatists, for performing in Russian-occupied Crimea.

In February 2022, Miyagi and Andy Panda stopped giving concerts, both in Russia and abroad, and have also declined corporate gigs. “Now when people mention ‘concerts,’ he says, ‘What concerts? People are dying,’” Miyagi’s mother told a journalist in the summer of 2022. Andy Panda, according to media reports, was slightly less categorical and may have agreed to perform at a private, closed event. Still, there is no public record of him performing in recent years.

The duo continues to record music and release new albums. In October 2022, they released the song Temporary, which includes the lines: “Orcs underfoot — that’s what they deserve, those monsters.” Andy Panda later claimed that “orcs” was used as a general archetype for “everything dark and evil.” Yet another track, released in January 2024, again hinted at the war in Ukraine: “Here they kill in the name of God, justifying every motive with criminal prayers.”

Despite these lyrical hints, Miyagi and Andy Panda have not publicly commented on the war. Their silence hasn’t hurt their popularity by any means: in 2025, their music was streamed more than 590 million times.

Vanya Dmitrienko: From resistance to acquiescence

In February 2022, 16-year-old Vanya Dmitrienko was a rising star: he appeared on Russia’s flagship state-backed news network Channel One, and two months earlier had become the youngest recipient ever of the Golden Gramophone award.

Then came the full-scale invasion. Four days after it began, Dmitrienko refused to go onstage at the Zhara Media Awards, where he was scheduled to host. “In the current situation, my moral compass does not allow me to go onstage and pretend nothing is happening. Music should be above politics, but it’s hard to smile when your heart is in pain. Very soon we will meet again — love will win,” he wrote on Instagram.

But three years later, he was smiling again at awards shows — this time accepting them himself. In early December 2025, together with his 16-year-old girlfriend Anna Peresild, he won “Most Anticipated Release of the Year” for their joint track “Silhouette.” Later that same night, he was named “Artist of the Year” at the Yandex Music Awards.

Dmitrienko has never publicly criticized the war in Ukraine. In September 2025, he headlined a pro-war event: a “youth forum” organized with the support of a former Russian soldier who fought in Ukraine and Artyom Zhogin, Putin’s envoy to the Ural Federal District. Journalists reported that the forum featured pavilions highlighting the “region’s contribution to supporting the special military operation.”

MONA: Silence about politics

Singer Daria Kustavskaya, better known as MONA, is consistently tight-lipped about politics. The 29-year-old singer was named “Artist of the Year” by Yandex Music for the second consecutive year in 2025. She began her career in Sweden, where she moved with her family and participated in the TV talent show Idol Sverige. After three years, she returned to Moscow to launch a solo career. Her breakthrough came in 2022, when a music video released with singer Elman surpassed 200 million views on YouTube. Despite her visibility and acclaim, MONA has never publicly commented on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

At the same time, her boyfriend, blogger and rapper Eldar Dzharakhov, has faced serious professional consequences in Russia for condemning the full-scale invasion of Ukraine: his concerts have been canceled, and he’s been publicly attacked by pro-Kremlin activists such as Vitaly Borodin. Dzharakhov’s posts openly criticizing the war have since been deleted, though he continues to live and work in Moscow.

Bond s knopkoy: Radio silence

The band Bond s knopkoy, named Band of the Year by Yandex Music, has never spoken publicly about the war in Ukraine. Their breakthrough came in 2025, when the song Kukhni went viral on TikTok, spending a record 85 days atop the Yandex Music charts. The group only launched its Instagram account in 2023. As feminist and antiwar activist Darya Serenko noted on X, their lyrics contain “nothing to censor.”

‘All of that suddenly felt irrelevant’

These artists’ popularity may be linked to a broader trend, one Russian musician told Verstka: waning public interest in the war. According to her, attention to pro-war artists and events in Russia has gradually faded.

“You don’t really hear slogans shouted from the stage anymore, and the hyper-patriotic events have died down in the media space,” she said. “For example, you hear much less about Shaman now. MACAN is ‘patriotic,’ but overall he seems more interested in cars and just does what feels natural to him. The fact that he’s ‘patriotic’ doesn’t necessarily mean his main goal is to promote a particular viewpoint.”

The source said the genre that’s been most affected by the war is rap.

Before the full-scale invasion, the charts were dominated by ‘flex rap’ — songs about luxury lifestyles, diamonds, Rolls-Royces, that whole vibe. When the war began, all of that suddenly felt irrelevant. You could really see it in the charts at the time. More melancholic artists became popular — people talking about life, reflecting, that sort of thing. Flex rap came back later, but to a lesser extent. MACAN sits somewhere in the middle: partly about life, partly about cars.

Original story by Iva Tsoi for Verstka Media