Ligalize on the war

The Moscow Prosecutor's Office reacted instantly to the artist's uncompromising video, launching criminal inquiries into alleged "discreditation" of the Russian armed forces, production and distribution of extremist materials, and initiating proceedings to brand him a "foreign agent". Consequently, Legalize was forced into emergency exile from Russia:

Of course, I was prepared for this status («foreign agent» - editor's note). That is the very reason I bought a plane ticket with a single tap of my finger. Immediately after I saw the final cut of this music video, everything became crystal clear to me. I fled the country, I left behind my beloved motherland. I desperately did not want to do this, but there was simply no other choice. I will keep working; I have an extensive tour in the works, new projects, new songs. I owe everything to those who are currently enduring repressions inside Russia, living in perpetual terror of persecution and therefore unable to utter the simple, plain truths that I am voicing. They cannot ban this video. They can only block resources that link to the YouTube channel. And as for blocking YouTube entirely, they don't have the technical capability yet. I hope they won't acquire it anytime soon.

Video: Legalize: Those who support the war cannot be forgiven

In September 2023, Andrey Menshikov was denied boarding on a flight by the Polish airline LOT because of his Russian passport, to which the rapper responded with dignity and empathy:

Friends, I was barred from boarding the airplane. The airline refused passengers holding Russian passports. I am forced to reschedule my upcoming concert in Budva. I feel zero resentment or negativity toward the airline's decision. I am fully prepared to bear responsibility for the horrific atrocities my country is committing. I do not consider this a disproportionate 'hardship' compared to the real, agony-filled suffering of the Ukrainian people.

What Legalize Says About the War: Quotes

My life has suffered total ruin. It is an absolute collapse, an utter, clean defeat. I spent my whole life working to dismantle toxic stereotypes about my beloved homeland. I longed so deeply for the world not to fear us, not to view us as aggressive degenerates and stunted morons. I loved interacting with people from foreign cultures and showing them that Russians are just like them, that after the fall of the Soviet Union, everything had fundamentally shifted. That we are open to the world, friends with everyone, and that we have a fantastic, progressive, wonderful country. And I genuinely believed that; I believed that in moments of trial, the Russian person would make the right choice, having already learned history's lessons. Stepping on such rakes, plunging into such a grotesque cartoon reversion to Soviet nightmare — I could never have imagined it, I couldn't fathom it was even possible. Every song has already been sung, every book written, every movie filmed. Everything was stated in the plainest language imaginable. You didn't need to be a genius to grasp rudimentary truths, avoid propaganda traps, and not turn into savages. But no, like sheep people march right into that very snare, and even some of my own personal friends bought into it.

Perhaps I fail to understand something, but I was genuinely astounded when, following my anti-war posts, people launched ferocious attacks against me. I have hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, and right after February 24, I posted: 'No to war' on a pitch-black background with the single word 'shock'. I had no other words at that moment because the shock was so overwhelming. And then it started: 'Where were you for eight years?' — and so forth, coming from people to whom I had just released a protest album explicitly warning about all of this: 'More blood, more Salisbury and Syria, / More Donbasses, Crimeas, more evil for Russia, / So that around us nobody could stand the sight of us at all, / So we'd finally shut ourselves off from everyone behind our messiah.'

They will fabricate some criminal charge against me, I believe. First, a Z painted on my door, then something far more sinister. It's obvious this will happen sooner or later. That's what lies ahead. And on a global scale — either nuclear apocalypse or a palace snuffbox coup, an elite reshuffle that triggers its own civil war. Everything will begin unraveling. Kadyrov with his private army and Prigozhin with his army tearing at power with their teeth, ripping the country to shreds. Or totalitarian stagnation, turning into North Korea, and then seeing how long they can cling on. They could hold out quite a while, actually; the economy will be utterly destroyed, of course, but they couldn't care less.

Celebrities on Legalize’s Position

He simply said that he was in total shock and had no idea how we could ever forgive them, something along those lines.