Affinage on the war

Reaction to the Full-Scale Invasion

Prior to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the band «Affinage» had scheduled a concert tour across Ukrainian cities, which was subsequently cancelled.

On February 24, 2022, the musicians limited their public reaction to a social media post in the vein of "peace to the world" and continued their concert activities in Russia.

On May 18, 2022, Em Kalinin published a longread on his VKontakte page in which he placed responsibility for the conflict equally on both sides:

Now regarding 'positions', 'support', 'sympathies', and all the rest. First of all, I address those who hurled insults like 'f***ing r*shists', 'k*tsap', and various 'synonymous constructions' of varying degrees of creativity. Futile effort: I will not write nonsense along the lines of 'I am ashamed to be Russian', 'It's time to get out of R*shka', and similar spineless drivel. I was born in Russia and I will die in Russia. I feel sorry for everyone caught in this situation of conflict (which has been brewing for a very long time, nurtured and stoked from all sides). I feel sorry for you, and for myself — nobody wins. And all of us, barking at each other, are merely unwittingly executing an unhealthy directive step by step.

Concert in a Military Hospital

On November 4, 2022, "Affinage" performed before Russian soldiers in a military hospital:

While prior to this «Affinage» had confined itself to vague statements about peace, holding a concert before Russian military servicemen became a concrete action demonstrating direct support for the Russian army.

Participation in the «Nashestvie» Festival

In August 2023, the band was announced as a participant in the «Nashestvie» rock festival, one of whose official partners was the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The event program also featured numerous artists who openly supported the war against Ukraine.

Celebrities on Affinage's Position

There is a promoter named Vladimir Baranov, nicknamed Kalodya; he is currently organizing concerts for famous punk bands: «Yorsh», «Distemper», «Poslednie Tanki v Parizhe», «Psychea», «Affinage». And he is an absolute, one-hundred-percent 'Z-supporter', rooting for Putin, against liberals and democrats, in favor of killing Ukrainians. But with him everything is clear, there are many like him. Yet why my colleagues cooperate with a fascist and make money for him is incomprehensible to me.....