«Auktsyon» (АукцЫон) is an iconic Soviet and Russian avant-garde rock band founded in Leningrad in 1978. Across different eras, the collective experimented with eclectic musical styles, combining elements of post-punk, jazz, art-rock, and new wave. The band's frontmen and vocalists are Leonid Fyodorov and Oleg Garkusha.
In June 2017, Garkusha was entered into the database of the "Myrotvorets" website for denial of Russian armed aggression and unauthorized concert activities in Russian-occupied Crimea.
In a 2015 interview, Fyodorov praised Vladimir Putin and blamed the United States for the revolutionary events in Ukraine:
... And to whom, strictly speaking, is the collapse of Ukraine beneficial? It seems to me that only America benefits from it, nobody else.
The reason also lies in the fact that nobody among us ever considered Ukraine a foreign state. People might have considered Georgia or Estonia as foreign, but Ukraine was never regarded as a different country. Beginning in 1987, 'Auktsyon' performed in Kyiv several times every year. This is the first year we cancelled a concert there. Because we do not want to become hostages to the situation from either side, and we do not want to be exploited by propaganda from either party. We would never travel to Chechnya; we will not go anywhere where politics, state power, and the government are valued above human life.
Why were the residents (of Crimea, - ed.) grateful? They feared there would be a bloodbath. A few tanks drove through, and Crimeans felt reassured. And why shouldn't one respect them for that? That is certainly better than slaughtering people over political nonsense. Everyday human life and all the inflamed nonsense people kill each other for are completely incomparable things. Frankly speaking, Putin is smarter than others solely because he prevented horrific Bosnian and Serbian scenarios from unfolding.
The Band Auktsyon’s Position on the War in Ukraine
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the group made a few extremely guarded, cautious remarks regarding the military aggression. On February 27, 2022, during an Auktsyon concert at the Kosmonavt club in Saint Petersburg, Leonid Fyodorov stepped up to the microphone and stated: "No to war — voyne net." The audience responded with supportive applause.
On March 1, 2022, a statement appeared across the band's official social media channels:
We live in a crazy time and in a crazy place. Human beings must not kill one another anywhere or ever. Our parents live in Kyiv and Donetsk. Our brothers and sisters are in Crimea. We need peace. We need this world! Our stance over the past 8 years has not changed.
P.S. In the comments under this post, you may list your immediate relatives currently living in the war zones. All other comments will be deleted.
Beyond this statement, the band «Auktsyon» never commented on the war again, adopting a deliberate posture of silence and self-preservation.
Oleg Garkusha took part in Garik Sukachov's patriotic pro-state music video «Ya ostayus!» (I'm Staying) alongside musicians such as Sergey Shnurov ("Leningrad"), Vladimir Shakhrin ("Chaif"), Aleksandr F. Sklyar ("Va-Bank"), Sergey Galanin ("SerGa"), Sergey ‘Chizh’ Chigrakov ("Chizh & Co"), Evgeny Margulis ("Voskreseniye", "Mashina Vremeni"), Andrey Knyazev ("KnyaZz", "Korol i Shut"), Aya ("Gorod 312"), Masha Makarova ("Masha i Medvedi"), Vladimir and Sergey Kristovsky ("Uma2rmaH"), Maksim Kucherenko ("Undervud"), and others.
In May 2023, Leonid Fyodorov released a solo album titled «Pisma B. V.» (Letters of B. V.). The record features authentic letters sent by Boris Viktorov, stepson of avant-garde poet Alexander Vvedensky, to his Moscow friends Fyodorov and his wife Lidiya, written from Kharkiv, Ukraine, while the city was enduring relentless bombardment and siege attempts by Russian troops. The texts are spoken in a calm, subdued voice against delicate instrumental textures. Viktorov matter-of-factly recounts that when explosions hit, it is not all that terrifying, that local volunteers are performing admirably, that his children and grandchildren safely evacuated to Europe, and that for him personally, all this is happening for the second time — the first having been in 1941.
The musicians continue to actively perform live concerts across the Russian Federation.
Увы, еще один не сдюжил, присоединился к путиноидам - вся эта мимикрирующая пена русского рока - не Башлачев, не Янка, не Полковник - а так, мелкие бесы чижы и чайфы, горкуши и втихаря под подушку диссидентсвующие федоровы. Твоя страна несет миру убийства невидимого масштаба, а ты помалкиваешь и концертики даешь для ***юдоедов, в надежде остаться живым. Вот только брызги **рови на твоей одежде уже не отмыть.
Пусть гражданин переосмысляет свое отношение к войне, раз повод (близкие в Украине) вполне способствует этому.