Liya Akhedzhakova is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1970). People's Artist of Russia (1994). Born on July 9, 1938, in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR. Citizenship: Russia.
Starting in 2014, the actress openly spoke out against Russian aggression in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea:
I traveled all over Crimea, it is part of my life. But that absolutely does not justify theft. I believe: Crimea belongs to Ukraine. How is that possible — to seize living space from a neighbor? Especially when he has problems in his home
She supported Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity:
I look at what is happening in Ukraine, when a million people took to the streets in Kyiv, and I feel immense respect for the Ukrainian people. I envy them with fierce envy. It is clear that the European Union will not bring them prosperity, but they do not want a noose around their neck, they don't need a big brother. Ukrainians gave us a lesson in civic engagement and fearlessness
In March 2014, together with more than 200 other Russian filmmakers, the actress signed an appeal to Ukrainian colleagues expressing words of support and assurances that they did not believe official Kremlin propaganda. She signed the appeal of an initiative group to convene an intelligentsia congress "Against War, Against the Self-Isolation of Russia, Against the Restoration of Totalitarianism", and signed an appeal in defense of Russian musician Andrey Makarevich, who criticized Russian state policy towards Ukraine.
In July 2014, the actress publicly recited Orlusha's poem "Requiem for MH-17", taking responsibility on behalf of Russia for the passenger airliner shot down over Donetsk Oblast.
On June 29, 2015, during an interview with the TV channel Dozhd, she issued a public apology to the people of Armenia for Russian aggression.
In March 2015, she spoke out in support of Nadiya Savchenko, and in 2018 in defense of Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov.
Due to her position, Liya constantly faced a wave of harassment and persecution in Russia, where people began calling her a "Russophobe" and a "terrorist". Akhedzhakova's theatrical performances were disrupted, venues were denied for rent, and she received letters containing death threats.
Liya Akhedzhakova's stance on the major war in Ukraine
Following the outbreak of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Liya Akhedzhakova did not compromise her principles and continued actively supporting Ukraine. As a result, in early 2023, she was dismissed from the Sovremennik Theater, where she had worked for 50 years.
Video: Legendary Liya Akhedzhakova spoke out against the war and now faces severe repercussions
On February 21, 2022, she signed an open collective letter of the Russian Intelligentsia Congress titled "You Will Be Cursed! To the Warmongers", addressing the historical responsibility of the Russian authorities for instigating a "major war with Ukraine".
On June 27, 2023, while in Germany, she held up the Ukrainian flag and bowed from the stage, receiving a standing ovation from the packed auditorium.
What Liya Akhedzhakova says about the war in Ukraine: quotes
- "Kids, don't be silent, we're doomed anyway"
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"You are still very young and perhaps do not understand one thing: if an order is given to attack Ukraine, you won't go there as defenders of Russia, but as cannon fodder to be shot at by anyone and everyone. Do you really want to shoot abroad, knowing that your relatives with whom you drank tea and ate pastries ten years ago might be standing on the other side? Do you really want to kill people who are only defending their land, their family, their home?!"
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"You are dying not for Russia, but for Putin and his oligarch cronies who have been looting and destroying our country for two decades, and who at the very first sign of danger will simply, plainly speaking, abandon you and your families thousands of kilometers from home! And the only reason you are currently receiving good salaries and all kinds of 'perks' is mainly because there is simply no one else left to carry out their vile, selfish, criminal schemes, which violate any laws, conventions, norms of international law, laws of war, and laws of conscience!"
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"Let them insult me, let them throw stones at me, but I personally will not betray Ukraine! Under no circumstances, even if they insult and humiliate me so brutally"
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"If you only reflect on the situation for a single moment: because of one man who decided in such a bloody manner to appease himself, to inflict suffering on people because of his own complexes, fears, and the like, two once friendly nations that fought side by side against fascist-Nazi evil have fallen out forever. And today, the descendants of those who died for peace across the world are staging another bloody massacre, murdering women and children, the elderly, and ordinary civilians who did nothing to Russia"
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"The most terrifying thing is that Russians close their eyes to this, continuing to host 'discos' through rose-tinted glasses and imagining that their 'great' leader is a saint, blaming the atrocities in Bucha on some imaginary Nazis in Ukraine, without reflecting on who those people really are who came to a foreign land in the name of the Russian army and the Russian people to kill"
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