playingtheangel (Yuri Perfilov) is a Russian musician, hip-hop artist, and songwriter. He first gained widespread prominence as a member of the creative association "KBS" alongside artists such as pyrokinesis, aikko, and Egor Nats. He was born on February 20, 1995, in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Listening to this artist's tracks on official streaming platforms, social media, and other services indirectly contributes to financing the war — through taxes paid to the budget of the Russian Federation.
playingtheangel's position on the war in Ukraine
Reaction to the full-scale invasion
On February 24, 2022, on the first day of the full-scale invasion, playingtheangel published a short general anti-war message on Telegram: "F**k war":
And in voice messages, he recorded that as an ordinary person he could do nothing and change nothing in this situation:
I have long dreamed of visiting Ukraine. Ever since school, many of my friends have gone to Ukraine. And recently I dreamed of visiting Ukraine with a concert. But, as you yourselves understand, I will not be visiting Ukraine with a concert. I am that very simple person Mr. Zelenskyy talked about. An ordinary musician. And I don't understand what the f**k is happening either. And I am extremely saddened by this f**king disaster.
The artist also stated that "Empty Russian aggression against Ukraine is sickening to him" (the post was deleted):
Conflict with Nyuberg
Over time, the artist's rhetoric and actions began to change. In March 2023, blogger Dmitry Nyuberg published a video showing anti-Ukrainian statements by Gleb Viktorov, frontman of Tri Dnya Dozhdya. In response, Viktorov and his producer began threatening him with violence, and the blogger began receiving threats on behalf of the Wagner PMC: they extorted 2 million rubles from him, threatening to murder his family otherwise.
In this conflict, playingtheangel took the side of Gleb Viktorov and attempted through lawyers to have Nyuberg's YouTube channel deleted, but without success.
Shift in stance
In 2024, Nyuberg released a comprehensive video review about playingtheangel, demonstrating the changes in his public statements and actions after the start of the war.
In August 2024, Yura Angel published a post boasting of a belt given to him by his friend Seryoga, who was on the front line:
In December 2024, the musician even more candidly expressed admiration for the Russian invaders, "cherishing their courage":
When subscribers sent the rapper his own 2022 anti-war post and asked what had changed over 3 years, playingtheangel told them to "go study history", speaking in propaganda clichés. In his reply, he also capitalized the letters "S", "V", and "O" in the word "SVOyom".
In 2026, playingtheangel published a post expressing his love for Russia.
Thank you, Russia. I endlessly love you, my complicated one!
Concerts in occupied territories
Furthermore, the musician scheduled concerts for 2026 in occupied Crimea — in the cities of Sevastopol and Simferopol, and for the summer of 2027 the artist plans to visit occupied Donetsk and Luhansk.
Performances by Russian artists in the occupied territory of Ukraine without authorization from Ukrainian authorities violate international law and Ukrainian legislation and are viewed by Ukraine as support for Russian occupation.
