You're reading: Ukrainian-Americans want visa ban to stop concerts by Ani Lorak because of her performances in Russia

Members of the Ukrainian-American community in Chicago on Aug. 22 started an online petition to stop Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak from performing in the U.S. in January.

Community members say that the concerts shouldn’t take place because of the singer’s ties to Russia, which launched an unprovoked war against Ukraine in February 2014.

They are furious that Lorak, whose real name is Karolina Kuyok, still performing in Russia. Moreover, the singer has accepted two Russian music awards in 2014 and is set to be a judge in a Russian singing contest that will take place in Crimea, Ukraine’s annexed peninsula.

When Lorak’s five-concert U.S. tour was announced, members of the Ukrainian diaspora asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through an online petition to deny Lorak a visa. Their reason is that the singer has allegedly been an agitator of Russian-separatist views.

“In memory of all the fallen soldiers of Ukraine and in the honor of all the heroes who fight for Ukraine and its future, we protest Ani Lorak’s planned tour in the U.S.,” reads the petition at www.change.com.

The singer’s spokeswoman, Julia Luniova, told the Kyiv Post that Lorak wouldn’t comment.
Activists need to collect 500 signatures for the petition to be considered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. There were 244 signatories of the initiative as of Aug. 27.

Previously, the singer denied accusations of disloyalty to Ukraine, saying that she stands for peace and wants to make music and stay away from politics. “Politicians use my name in their dirty games,” Lorak wrote in an open letter to her fans, published on her website last year. The five planned U.S. shows are in New York City, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Chicagoan Diana Goldak signed the petition to deny Lorak a visa. “She should sing to Siberian bears,” Goldak wrote on her Facebook page.

Lorak has been losing popularity in Ukraine for her pro-Russian views.In 2014, her shows in Odesa and Kyiv were disrupted by pro-Ukrainian activists. After several fights erupted, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that police won’t maintain order during the singer’s shows in Ukraine anymore.

Kyiv Post staff writer Veronika Melkozerova can be reached at [email protected]