A group of Ukrainian MPs have
demanded that secret services (SBU) chief Vasily Gritsak ban
Italian singer Toto Cutugno from holding a concert in Kiev on
March 23 due to alleged pro-Russian positions.
ANSA was told the news on Friday by one of the MPs who made
the request, Viktor Romanyuk, confirming reports on Thursday
that appeared in Economistua.com.
Cutugno told ANSA "I'm very surprised and sorry for this
news. It's absurd that a group of Ukrainian MPs want to stop me
signing in a country I love and that loves my music.
"I'm apolitical, is that clear? I have sung in institutional
occasions for heads of state including Putin, but that doesn't
mean political support".
Cutugno's manager Danilo Mancuso told ANSA: "Toto has always
been far from the political ambit and in all his life has never
expressed himself in any direction".
Ukraine's culture ministry on Monday put another Italian
singer, Albano Carrisi, better known by his stage name Al Bano,
on its list of individuals considered a threat to national
security.
Al Bano and his ex-wife Romina Power were big in the Soviet
Union in the 1980s and they are still popular in Russia.
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