Ballet dancer Sergei Polunin has been stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by a presidential decree signed on October 14, according to authorities in Kiev, reports The Kyiv Independent.
Originally from the Kherson region, one of the areas most affected by the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine, Polunin previously held three citizenships – Ukrainian, Russian, and Serbian.
In a statement on October 14, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that “appropriate decisions have been made regarding the confirmed presence of Russian citizenship among certain individuals”, without directly naming Polunin.
In addition to him, Zelensky also stripped the Ukrainian citizenship of the mayor of Odessa, Ghenadi Truhanov, who has been accused for years of holding a Russian passport, as well as a former Ukrainian politician turned Moscow collaborator, Oleg Tsariov.
Sergei Polunin became internationally famous due to his appearance in Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” music video and has starred in Hollywood productions such as “Red Sparrow” and “Murder on the Orient Express”.
However, his career has been marked by controversy, being accused of substance abuse and making homophobic and sexist statements during his active period in Europe.
Polunin previously collaborated with the Royal Ballet in London, and later led the Sevastopol Opera and Ballet Theater in Crimea, occupied by Russia, from December 2019 until the summer of 2024.
At the end of 2024, the artist announced that he was leaving Russia, saying that his soul “was not in the right place”. Currently, it is unknown where he resides and he has not provided an official comment regarding the decision of the Ukrainian authorities.
