He doesn’t say where or for what. The famous Ukrainian-Russian dancer Sergei Polounin, known for his resounding departure from the Royal Ballet in London and his tattoos bearing the image of Vladimir Putin, announced on Wednesday that he intended to leave Russia. “Thank you for everything Russia has done for me. The time comes when the soul does not feel where it should be,” he wrote on his Instagram account. “My time in Russia is over for a long time, as if I have fulfilled my mission here for the moment,” he said in a long, nebulous message riddled with errors to his approximately 219,000 subscribers.
The 35-year-old dancer, who was born in southern Ukraine and has held Russian citizenship since 2018, did not clearly explain why he wanted to leave Russia. Last summer, he claimed in online videos that he was being followed and feared for the “safety” of his family. And he was replaced last week as head of the Sevastopol Opera and Ballet Theater, in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia, according to state agency Ria Novosti.
In October 2023, the dancer paid tribute to Vladimir Putin on his birthday, calling him “the kindest and most talented” man. In his latest online publications, he always bore the face of the Russian president, on his chest and both shoulders.
