Susana Jamaladinová, a Ukrainian of Crimean Tatar origin, better known by her stage name Džamala, is on the Russian list of wanted persons. Russian state news agencies RIA and TASS reported on Monday.
The Mediazona website added that Moscow included Jamala on the list of wanted persons already in October, and in November the singer was arrested in absentia by a Russian court.
In 2016, Dzhamala successfully represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “1944”. The song is about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, during which, according to the website Politico, up to 200,000 people lost their lives.
The song tells the story of Jamal’s great-grandmother, who lost her daughter when she was deported to Central Asia. Already seven years ago, the song 1944 was described by the Russian media and lawmakers as critical of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the “ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine” in the Donbass.
Dzhamala, who has strongly opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since its inception, is currently on tour in Australia. She reacted to the news that she was on the Russian wanted list in an Instagram story, taking a picture of herself in front of the Sydney Opera House and adding a facepalm emoticon to the photo.
More about tip-off arrests
In addition to her daily work, the Russian citizen reports her fellow citizens to the local authorities “for discrediting the Russian army”. Her story is reported by the British BBC.
