Anacondaz on the war

Condemnation of the Invasion and Pressure from Authorities

Following the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion, the musicians spoke out in support of Ukraine and condemned the military aggression. On February 24, 2022, an anti-war statement was posted to the band's Instagram page (which was later removed):

It cannot be ignored. We cannot remain silent. We are against the war.

As a result of their civic stance, the group was placed on an informal "blacklist of banned performers" circulated among Russian event promoters, which triggered massive cancellations of their scheduled performances across Russia.

One of Anacondaz's concerts was broken up and halted by armed police. The musicians attempted to fight back and defend their rights in Russian courts and, despite systemic harassment, continued living in Russia. The sole exception was drummer Evgeny Stadnichenko: being a Ukrainian citizen, he was issued an official 50-year ban from entering the Russian Federation.

Photographs with Z-Musicians

In January 2026, a provocative photograph showing members of Anacondaz surrounded by musicians who openly endorse Russia's military aggression surfaced on the group's Telegram channel. In the image, the band members were captured posing in the company of:

• Cache (Igor Lobanov, frontman of the band «Slot»), who traveled to perform in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast;
• Members of the metalcore band Wildways, who visited Russian soldiers stationed in pulverized Mariupol;
• Radio Tapok — an artist who was awarded a state grant of 21.6 million rubles to perform for military units and participated in Kremlin-sponsored rallies.

Anacondaz guitarist Ilya Pogrebnyak shared this photo on his personal channel accompanied by a heart emoji rendered in the colors of the Russian tricolor flag. Following a torrential backlash of criticism, Pogrebnyak published an inappropriate "brotherly nations" post and reposted a text aggressively defending the band's position. The text framed friendship with Z-artists as completely normal and an indicator of an "emotionally mature psyche."

Conflict with Vladimir Kotlyarov

The situation drew a blistering reaction from Vladimir Kotlyarov, frontman of the punk group «Pornofilmy», who took an uncompromising anti-war stance from the very start of the invasion and lives in exile. He emphasized that many fans, including Ukrainians, continued attending Anacondaz shows believing they were 'good, principled guys', but such compromises completely negate that image:

...To survive in today's Russia, one must make compromises with oneself... But you see, these compromises have nothing in common with fraternizing and posing for photos with Z-scum, with those who publicly justify war.

Yet these 'good guys' see nothing wrong with being friends with war-mongering Z-collaborators and opportunistic conformists who will literally do whatever it takes to salvage their petty musical careers... I don't know whether those who plan on attending their shows are bothered by friendship and cozy photos with such people? I certainly am.

Amid the spiraling controversy, joined also by ex-frontman of «Tarakany!» Dmitry Spirin, Anacondaz had their scheduled concerts in Tbilisi, Georgia cancelled.

On February 13, 2026, Anacondaz dropped a diss track targeting Vladimir Kotlyarov titled «Ya tak soskuchilsya» (I Missed You So Much), labeling their exiled colleague "pathetic", accusing him of "hyping up grief", and mocking the lifestyle of Russian emigrants living in Georgia. The band boasted of their supposed "freedom" inside Russia, adding the line: "I'd rather croak as a f***ing outcast than ever become like you." The track sparked widespread indignation: fans flooded the band's social accounts with outrage, forcing the musicians to turn off comment sections entirely.

The Band’s Reaction to Public Criticism

The frontman of Anacondaz also attempted to explain his stance on Twitter in an exchange with documentary photographer Evgeny Feldman, but later thought better of it and deleted the thread. Throughout the discussion, Artem Khorev made it clear that he saw nothing objectionable about taking friendly photos with pro-war Z-artists, referring to it as mere "everyday personal relations" and refusing to act as a "moral judge" for fellow colleagues. When asked directly about his guitarist posting photos with Z-artists alongside Russian tricolor hearts, the musician merely brushed it off: «We have the best guitarist in the world. Did you check out the guitar solo?».

Khorev had also previously rationalized the actions of compromised artists who tour Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, justifying it on the grounds that "everyone has to eat".

The recent actions of Anacondaz appear to be a calculated attempt to broker a compromise with Russian state authorities in order to be removed from concert blacklists and resume touring. Their official registration in Roskomnadzor databases, public mingling with staunchly pro-war Z-artists, and vicious attacks against anti-war peers in exile strongly suggest the collective is deliberately shedding its former protest image to adapt to current authoritarian norms inside Russia.