Tajik-Russian musician Manizha defies ban to sing for peace

By Sarah Mills

LONDON - Manizha, the last musician to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest but unable, she says, to perform live in her adoptive country, has released a defiant anti-war track.

"Gun", a reworking of a track she wrote a decade earlier, was released late last month as a single. It will also be part of Extended Play (EP) "Hope" for release on Sept. 4.

"The main idea (with "Gun") is to create something that will be about peace in Ukraine. Peace in Russia. Peace in Israel. Peace in Palestine," she told Reuters in a Zoom interview from Moscow.

Born in Tajikistan, Manizha, whose full name is Manizha Sangin, fled the civil war there in the 1990s, and was initially welcomed in Russia.

But after she made public her opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022, and also campaigned for LGBTQ rights, she said she is banned from performance in the country, which in turn can no longer take part in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Her Russian identity also makes international performance difficult.

"I'm cancelled in my country and I'm cancelled in the world," She said, saying her thoughts on this are explored in her track "Standing Between Two Walls," which is also on the upcoming EP.     Ultimately, she believes there is hope.

"Every war is having an end because I experienced that in my homeland in Tajikistan. So it's just a very, very dark part of our time," she said.

She also says she still loves Russia and has been helping displaced people following Ukraine's surprise attack on Russia's Kursk region.

(Reporting by Sarah Mills; editing by Barbara Lewis)