Ballet dancer Sergei Polunin was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by a presidential decree on Oct. 14, according to law enforcment.
The award-winning ballet dancer, who is originally from Kherson Oblast — one of the regions most devastated by Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine — previously held Ukrainian citizenship in addition to a Russian and Serbian one.
Polunin, who is known to have a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin tattooed on his chest, has said in past interviews that he “always regarded himself as Russian.”
Polunin has actively supported Russia’s war against Ukraine, including the brief occupation of his native Kherson.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 14 that “appropriate decisions” had been taken regarding “the confirmed presence of Russian citizenship among certain individuals” but didn’t refer to Polunin by name.
In addition to Polunin, Zelensky also stripped Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov of his Ukrainian citizenship after years of allegations that the local politician possessed a Russian passport, as well as former Ukrainian politician turned Russian collaborator Oleg Tsaryov.
Polunin, who shot to international fame for his appearance in Hozier’s music video “Take Me to Church” and has had rolls in major Hollywood films like “Red Sparrow” and “Murder on the Orient Express,” has been no shy of scandal.
Polunin was accused of substance abuse, as well as homophobic and sexist remarks, during his European career.
Polunin previously worked with the the Royal Ballet in London and later as the director of the Sevastopol Opera and Ballet Theater in Russian-occupied Crimea from December 2019 until the summer of 2024.
In late 2024, Polunin announced that he was leaving Russia because his soul was “not in its place.” It is unclear where he currently resides.
As of publication, Polunin has not responded to the Kyiv Independent’s request for comment.
Art after apocalypse — opera spurred by Russia’s ecocide in Ukraine to return to Kyiv
Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Independent is a media partner of the “Gaia-24” performance on Nov. 27 in Kyiv. Even in the midst of Russia’s ecocide against Ukraine — where forests are scorched, rivers are poisoned, and crops are torn apart by shellfire — life refuses to end. Nature sends up green shoots through craters — and in the same spirit, art rises through grief. “Gaia-24,” the opera inspired by Russia’s 2023 destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir dam in Kherson Oblast, is set to make its retur
