Polina Gagarina performs at Pro-Putin rally

One-time Russian Eurovision entrant Polina Gagarina nailed her political colours to the mast today in Moscow as she performed in a rally supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium was packed out for a pro-war rally on the anniversary of Russia’s Crimea annexation. Video was shown of Ukrainian flags being thrown to the ground. In common with other performers, the former Eurovision entrant sported the letter ‘Z’ – a symbol of support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She sang a song from the soundtrack of the movie ‘Battle for Sevastopol‘ – Sevastopol being the largest city in Crimea.

Eurovision

Gagarina represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with peace anthem “A Million Voices” where she finished second with 303 points. She was shown in tears each time Russia picked up points and those in the hall booed, protesting Soviet anti-gay laws. Ukraine didn’t participate in 2015 because of financial difficulties in relation to the war in Donbas.

Loser

Obviously, you could argue, she needs to do something to keep her in the manner to which she has grown accustomed.

Before Instagram was banned, Gagarina was the tenth-highest Russian earner on Instagram and YouTube in 2021, with net revenue of about 6 million US dollars from 8.9 million subscribers.

The Moscow native used Instagram for commercial purposes, frequently posting product advertisements. In the Forbes Russia 2021 ranking, she was the top-earning female musician and the second highest-earning female overall.