Pro-Putin Soprano Anna Netrebko Returns to London’s Royal Opera House

Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko, known for her support of President Vladimir Putin and the self-proclaimed “LPR/DPR” republics, is set to return to London’s Royal Opera House after a six-year hiatus, AP reported.

Netrebko will appear on the Covent Garden stage for the first time since 2019, performing in four shows from Sept. 11 to 21 in a new production by Oliver Mears set in a modern, war-torn Rome. She will be joined by Freddie De Tommaso and Gerald Finley.

From Dec.15-23, Netrebko is scheduled to take part in four performances of Puccini’s Turandot, and on June 24, 2026, she is scheduled to give a solo concert.

Her last performance at Covent Garden was in Verdi’s La forza del destino in April 2019. Planned performances in Nabucco in January 2022 were canceled due to travel restrictions into Europe.

Netrebko, who has held Austrian citizenship since 2006 alongside her Russian one, has long been a controversial figure due to her ties to the Kremlin.

She was a proxy supporter of Vladimir Putin during elections, received state honors from him, and in 2014 openly backed the so-called “LPR/DPR” by posing with the flag of “Novorossiya” — a photo widely interpreted as a political statement during the height of the Donbas conflict.

“LPR” stands for Luhansk People’s Republic, and “DPR” stands for Donetsk People’s Republic — two self-proclaimed, Russian-backed separatist entities in eastern Ukraine that emerged in 2014 during the conflict in Donbas. They are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine but were illegally annexed by Russia in 2022.

In late 2014, Netrebko held a press conference in St. Petersburg, where she pledged to donate one million rubles ($11,900) to the Donetsk Opera Theatre, in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.

“I have a lot of musician friends in Donetsk, we have been writing to each other a lot, and they told me the theater was sacred for them, and the building had been partly damaged. I decided that I wanted to help as much as I can. I think it’s the right thing to do because art is art, and helps us get through all situations,” Netrebko said.

In a 2022 interview with the German weekly Die Zeit, Anna Netrebko said:

“I see my mission as fighting Russophobia in all its forms – by performing on stage and singing Russian repertoire, which is sometimes considered undesirable these days.”

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Netrebko lost multiple engagements and contracts. She was dismissed from New York’s Metropolitan Opera and dropped from scheduled performances in Stuttgart, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and Milan’s La Scala – although La Scala later reinstated her in 2023. Ukraine placed her under sanctions in January 2023.

Netrebko filed a complaint with the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) over her dismissal from the Met. An arbitrator ruled that the opera house must pay her over $200,000 for 13 canceled performances.

She later filed a separate lawsuit demanding at least $360,000, alleging discrimination based on nationality, defamation, and breach of contract. The Metropolitan Opera was ultimately able to contest and overturn her claims.

Despite the controversy, Netrebko has gradually returned to major stages across Europe and beyond since late 2022. Her concert calendar has included performances in Milan, Berlin, Belgrade, and in February 2025, she made her first US appearance in over five years — at a gala event with Palm Beach Opera in Florida.

Her return has sparked protests and debate, especially in light of her legal actions and public image.

Some countries continue to reject her appearances – her concert in Tallinn was canceled in 2023, and in May 2024, another performance in Lucerne, Switzerland, was also called off.