On Friday, the Migration Department registered Khabib Sharipov and Natasha Koroliov as persons banned from entering Lithuania.

They will not be able to visit Lithuania until January 21, 2027.

According to the LRT, the chairman of the Seimas National Security and Defense Committee Laurynas Kasčiūnas and his colleague were appointed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week due to these performers.

Sharipov’s (Xabibo) concert scheduled to take place in Vilnius on Sunday evening has been canceled.

“We have received a letter that the person is not wanted in Lithuania. As an argument – a concert for children in Sevastopol. Only today it has been announced, ”said Marekas Gurnovičius, the representative of the concert organizers.

According to him, the performer found out about being unwanted in Lithuania on the way – after arriving in Helsinki, where he had to fly to Vilnius.

“He passed the passport control and simply did not allow him to fly to Vilnius,” Gurnovičius said.

According to the chairman of the NSGK, the organizers of the concerts should assess the geopolitical situation before inviting the performer.

“(…) We are probably minutes away from direct military action against our friends in Ukraine. Such concerts are a complete misunderstanding. I would like to see no need for any safeguards on the part of the state, so that such decisions would appear due to the awareness of the event organizers, ”said L. Kasčiūnas.

For this reason, Russian singers Oleg Gazmanov, Grigory Lepsveridze, and Filip Kirkorov were previously added to the list of unwanted persons in Lithuania.

Kirkorkov had appealed against Lithuania’s decision, but lost the courts.

Last May, the Seimas adopted an amendment to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens to include in the list of persons who publicly support the aggressive policies of a foreign state that violate international law.

In 2014, Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula. Lithuania does not recognize the legal territory of Russia in Crimea.