Since 2014 the international movement Arts Against Aggression has been actively combating Russian cultural propagandai across the U.S. and Europe. In collaboration with other American organizations and activists, we successfully barred Putin’s propaganda artists from performing in the US after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This is why we were deeply shocked and disheartened to learn that Vadim Repin, the violinist closely connected to Putin, has been invited to perform at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts on March 2, 2026, for the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s Lullaby, commissioned for the Palm Beach Symphony by Ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter. Particularly since the Repin concert is scheduled for the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Bucha massacre.

Unlike his wife, Putin’s protégé ballerina Svetlana Zakharova, violinist Vadim Repin is not affiliated with the ruling “United Russia” party, does not hold any state positions, and he has refrained from making political statements. Nonetheless, Repin, a Belgian citizen living in Italy and Switzerland, is actively involved in Kremlin propaganda initiatives and has received substantial financial support from Putin’s Propaganda Fund (the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives).

For these particular reasons, the performance of Vadim Repin and Svetlana Zakharova, originally planned for January 20 and 21, 2026 at the Italian Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, has been  canceled. Pina Picierno, the Vice-president of the European Parliament, praised the cancelation and said that in Italy “there is no place for collaborators of criminal regimes.”

Vadim Repin’s performance, set for February 22, 2026, at the Mannheim Philharmonic—just before the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion—has been canceled after an official request from the Ukrainian embassy. In an statement released by the Mannheim Philharmonic and published in BackstageClassical, the orchestra announced, that “After extensive internal discussions, we have unanimously decided to grant the request of our Ukrainian fellow citizens and cancel the concert.”

Arts Against Aggression strongly urges the Palm Beach Symphony to take inspiration from the actions of Teatro del Maggio and Mannheim Philharmonic by canceling violinist Vadim Repin’s performance at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, planned for the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Bucha massacre.

Here are some insights into Vadim Repin’s engagement in the Kremlin’s propaganda campaign and the substantial payments he has received from the Russian state:

On January 16, 2019, during a meeting between Vladimir Putin and government officials in the Kremlin, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, reporting on the Russian Seasons programme abroad, separately mentioned the Violin Festival led by Vadim Repin. According to her, the festival took place in Italy, covered more than 300 events in more than 70 cities and, as stated, led to the conclusion of numerous contracts and the establishment of “cultural ties”. 

Thus, Repin was publicly presented as one of the key figures in Russian “soft power”, implemented directly under the patronage of the President of the Russian Federation.

On April 1, 2022, as the world dealt with the shock of the Bucha massacre and Russia was suspended from the United Nations Human Rights Council, President Putin conferred the honorary title of People’s Artist of the Russian Federation to Vadim Repin. 

This state recognition was a clear signal of support from the regime amid Russia’s international isolation.

On February 21, 2024, Repin performed with the State Kremlin Orchestra at a concert organised by the Kremlin Foundation. The event was timed to coincide with Defender of the Fatherland Day, and the Presidential Library’s website announced the concert as “a wonderful gift for our defenders”, offering tickets at a reduced price. 

Thus, the musician once again found himself in the context of official events with a clear ideological message.

In June 2024, Repin’s close ties to Putin’s regime became the focus of international attention during a scandal at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. After his victory, Ukrainian violinist Dmytro Udovychenko publicly refused to shake hands with Russian jury member Vadim Repin. Udovychenko clarified he cannot shake hands with someone organizing a Putin-funded festivals in Russia, especially while his parents endure Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

In March 2025, Vladimir Putin sent a greeting, published on the Kremlin website, to the participants of the Trans-Siberian Art Festival organized by Vadim Repin. 

This highlights the significance of Vadim Repin’s activities for the Putin regime.

In addition, on April 18, 2025, Vadim Repin performed a concert with the Russian National Orchestra, which was broadcast to an audience in the temporarily occupied Crimea. 

This constitutes a direct violation of international law and further confirms his involvement in legitimising the Russian occupation through culture.

The financial aspect deserves special attention. Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Vadim Repin Foundation for the Development of the Arts received over 100 million roubles from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, a structure that reports directly to the Russian presidential administration and serves as an instrument for implementing state cultural policy.

Throughout the same period, Russia killed at least 258 Ukrainian cultural creators, silencing their artistic expressions and significantly altering Ukraine’s cultural landscape.

We sincerely hope that the Palm Beach Symphony and the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts will reconsider their decision to host Vadim Repin, who acts as Russia’s cultural shield, obscuring the daily war crimes of the Putin regime, while pretending to build cultural bridges.

– Arts Against Aggression