Representatives of Bi-2 reported that the Thai authorities refused to deport the musicians to Israel after the visit of Russian diplomats

The Thai authorities reversed the decision to deport members of the Bi-2 group to Israel after a visit by high-ranking Russian diplomats. this in a telegram Representatives of the musicians announced .

The musicians who condemned the war, who have citizenship of countries other than Russian, refused to meet with the Russian consulate employees who came to them at the migration center.

After this visit, the Bi-2 participants were informed that the agreement on their deportation to Israel was canceled, despite the already purchased air tickets to this country.

Seven artists were detained after a concert in Phuket on January 25. Later, the court fined them $95 due to the lack of a work permit; representatives of the group explained the situation as an error in the preparation of documents by the organizers. After this, the musicians were placed in a temporary detention center. According to journalist Mikhail Kozyrev, they are kept in a common cell “under the hot sun” without a roof or shade.

The problem is that most of the musicians entered Thailand with Russian passports, and because of this they should be deported to Russia. According to the publication Ynet , the agreement between the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Thai authorities was that four of the musicians who have Israeli citizenship (including three who entered on a Russian passport) were supposed to fly today on an El Al flight.

After the start of the war, Bi-2 recorded several anti-war songs, and the group members moved to Israel. In May 2023, vocalist Leva (Egor Bortnik) wrote on his Instagram that he would not return to Russia, since “Putin’s Russia only causes disgust and disgust.” A few weeks later, the Ministry of Justice added him to the register of “foreign agents.”

Politician Dmitry Gudkov argued that the deportation of the Bi-2 musicians from Phuket is being sought personally by the Russian Consul General Vladimir Sosnov, in agreement with Moscow. According to Gudkov, Sosnov sent the Thai authorities a “black list” of Russian musicians whose concerts the Russian authorities are interested in banning. Comedian Maxim Galkin also said in January that he was not allowed into Indonesia because of a letter from the Russian government.