Andrey Makarevich reports sabotage of his concert in Nizhny Novgorod

Russian rock musician Andrey Makarevich, who faced persecution in Russia from the start of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, wrote in a Facebook post how the authorities tried to disrupt Mashina Vremeni’s concert in Nizhny Novgorod.

Makarevich says the director of the venue had a telephone call a week before the concert, recommending to cancel the event. The call was most likely made from a security agency. Tickets were sold out by that moment, so the band insisted on playing the concert.

The concert began, but the police suddenly interrupted it, saying they had a bomb scare call. The audience had to leave the building cordoned off by the special police forces. No bombs were found after a quick check, but the police didn’t allow the audience to enter the building. It seems that authorities hoped that people would go home. However, 800 people organised an impromptu rally while waiting. They chanted and sang Mashina Vremeni’s songs.

The city police head demanded that musicians should cancel the concert. The band asked to show official documents and inform the audience about the search operation results. The police head refused to do so. People were let in the building after more waiting. The concert continued after a 90-minute break. The audience chose to stay with the musicians till the end despite the attempts by the authorities to disrupt the gig.

In 2014, Andrei Makarevich was among the first public figures who spoke out against sending Russian troops to Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. He took part in the March for Peace in Moscow and spoke against activities of Russian authorities in Ukraine. Pro-Kremlin activists and state propaganda called his a traitor and launched a campaign to discredit the musician. Many of Mashina Vremeni’s concerts were cancelled, Russian politicians began to make harsh remarks about Makarevich. Despite the persecution and harassment, the musician maintains his position and severely criticises the Russian government for initiating the military conflict in Ukraine and seizing another country’s territory.