The cult Austrian ska-punk band Russkaja, surfing Soviet nostalgia in Vienna for two decades, have announced they are splitting up over safety fears following the war in Ukraine.
Russkaja's line-up includes six men and one woman - among them a Russian-born singer and a Ukrainian bassist - and started in Vienna 18 years ago. The band enjoyed great success in the United States with their blend of "Russian Turbo Polka Metal". They were scheduled to play Dublin in April.
"Presented as pro-Russian despite our condemnation" of the invasion of Ukraine, "our group Russkaja has become a daily target on the Internet", the seven-member band said on social media.
"The Soviet imagery is forever damaged" and "the war in Ukraine that Russia started on February 24, 2022 no longer allows us to use it satirically," Russkaja wrote.
"And then we fear for the safety of our team and we don't want anything serious to happen during a show."
At first, the band - one of whose taglines is "peace, love and Russian roll" - had decided to continue performing while clearly showing their support for Kyiv.
But the group's logo is in the shape of a red star and lyrics such as "the Russians have landed" had to be rewritten.
Signs of hostility have multiplied and "no one in this group wants to represent anymore something which, in a time like ours, is exclusively associated with war, death, crime and bloodshed", Russkaja added.
Source: AFP
