What happened
The artist, at one of his last concerts abroad, knelt in front of the audience and called for “love each other”.
“People are dying, innocent people in this. I dream that our people, that people in general in this world will not have wars. It is so good to live without wars. We need to forgive. I know that it hurts, but we must forgive each other for all the negative things. Love each other. It’s difficult, but it’s cool. It’s a thrill,” he said.
Spectators in the hall filmed his address on video and it went viral online, and Vinnik himself found himself at the epicenter of the scandal.
“Dovbograi” – reacted to the artist’s statement in the Ukrainian segment of the Threads social network.
“The best thing to do is not to remember him,” wrote in the comments.
“I left because I said I was sick. We see that it’s incurable,” commented Vinnik's words are Ukrainians.
Vinnik's reaction
After this, Vinnik decided to justify himself. According to the artist, he didn’t say anything like that, and “the media fanned the scandal out of the blue.”
The singer, who on his knees mentioned the war and the dead several times, said that he was not really talking about Ukraine and not about the need to forgive “peoples or countries.”
“And it’s definitely not about “forgiving Russians,” as they twisted it. These words were said on the eve of Christmas. They are about people. About the fact that we must forgive each other, including Ukrainians – Ukrainians, people – people,” he justified himself. “There is no need to put in meaning that is not there.”
Vinnik noted that his words were twisted. He assured that he “hurts for his country and the horror in which it lives.”
Context
Vinnik secretly left Ukraine at the end of February 2022 and went to Germany. The artist did not appear in public for some time, and then began performing abroad in restaurants, including performing his old songs in Russian.
In December 2025, Vinnik gave an interview to a journalist from RBC-Ukraine Life, in which began promoting Kremlin narratives.
