OREANDA-NEWS Soviet pop idol, 73-year-old Alla Pugacheva, lashed out at Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine on Saturday. The ’90s singer, commonly referred to simply as ‘The Primadonna’, demanded to be designated as a “foreign agent” after her husband, 46-year-old comedian Maksim Galkin, received such a label just days ago.

“I ask you to enroll me in the ranks of foreign agents of my beloved country, because I stand by my husband, an honest, decent and sincere person, a real and incorruptible patriot of Russia,” Pugacheva said in a social media post, addressed to Russia’s justice ministry. It was not immediately clear whether she had also communicated her request to the ministry through official channels.

The pop star also implicitly criticized the military operation in Ukraine, saying that her husband Galkin wants for Russia “prosperity, peaceful life, freedom of speech and an end to the deaths of our guys in pursuit of illusory goals, that make our country a pariah and aggravate the lives of our citizens.”

The statement came shortly after Galkin was branded a “foreign agent.” According to the justice ministry’s list, the comedian is “engaging in political activities,” while Ukraine was cited as his source of financing.

Galkin and Pugacheva fled Russia for Israel with their children – and later on, Latvia – as the conflict in Ukraine kicked off in late February. Pugacheva, until now, had remained silent on the reason for their departure and her stance on the conflict. Galkin, however, took an open anti-Russian position, repeatedly criticizing Moscow. The Primadonna returned to Russia in late August, while Galkin remains abroad.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.