Russian law enforcement authorities will investigate pop star Olga Buzova for performing on Children’s Day in a revealing outfit that sparked outrage among conservative figures, investigators said Monday.
Buzova was among the headliners at VK Fest 2024, an event organized by the social media website VKontakte in the republic of Bashkortostan’s capital city Ufa on Saturday.
Regional lawmaker Rustem Akhmadinurov said outraged residents bombarded him with complaints over the pop star appearing in a revealing leather bodysuit during her performance at the event.
In comments to the Podyom news website, Akhmadinurov claimed Buzova’s outfit was “out of place” in the majority-Muslim Russian region, as well as on June 1, when Russia celebrates International Day for the Protection of Children.
“I think her performance was very inappropriate, defiant and without an understanding of the traditions of the region where she performs,” the lawmaker said.
Akhmadinurov said he planned to find out whether local officials were involved in the planning of Buzova’s performance at VK Fest 2024.
But local authorities in Ufa denied any role in organizing the event or that it was held to commemorate Children’s Day.
Influential pro-Kremlin censorship activist Yekaterina Mizulina slammed Buzova’s performance as a “provocation.”
“It’s as if we live in two parallel worlds: on the one hand, there’s the special military operation and a civil war in Ukraine, people are dying. On the other hand, part of society continues to live in some other world and promote values that are fading into the past,” Mizulina wrote on Telegram.
“The whole country has been living differently for a long time. We have changed,” she added, comparing Buzova’s performance to a controversial “nearly naked” party in Moscow late last year.
The regional branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, vowed to look into Buzova’s performance in response to complaints online.
Investigators did not say whether they planned to press charges.