The Verona Philharmonic Theatre has withdrawn Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov from its upcoming production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni," scheduled for 18-25 January, reports Reuters.

The Arena di Verona Foundation announced the cancellation without providing reasons. Abdrazakov's representative declined an interview request, saying the singer was "too busy."

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli endorsed the decision. "Russian art and culture" are welcome "when they serve as a vehicle for dialogue and peace between peoples," Giuli said, but not "when they become a propaganda tool serving a despotic power that cannot and must not have citizenship rights in the free world."

European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno called the cancellation a victory against "the propaganda of Putin and the Kremlin."

The Anti-Corruption Foundation and advocacy group Liberi Oltre le Illusioni had pressed for Abdrazakov's exclusion, citing his inclusion on Putin's list of trusted representatives during the 2024 presidential elections and his membership in the Presidential Council for Culture and Arts.

In 2024, Putin appointed Abdrazakov head of the Sevastopol Opera and Ballet Theatre in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The same year, he received a state award from the Russian president.

Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the 49-year-old performed at London's Covent Garden, New York's Metropolitan Opera, and Milan's La Scala. By 2023, these venues had stopped working with him. Abdrazakov claimed he withdrew himself in protest against what he called a boycott of Russian performers, including soprano Anna Netrebko. Naples' Teatro di San Carlo also ended its collaboration with him in 2024.

In December 2022, Abdrazakov performed at La Scala in "Boris Godunov" amid protests against Russia's invasion. In July, Russian conductor Valery Gergiev had a concert cancelled in Italy under similar circumstances, drawing complaints from Moscow.

The Arena di Verona Foundation's website describes Abdrazakov as "one of opera's most sought-after basses and one of his generation's most celebrated and recognised artists."

Russian occupation authorities in Mariupol have announced the completion of "restoration" work on the drama theater that Russian forces destroyed in March 2022, the Mariupol City Council reports.

The Russians claimed that restoration work is finishing and they plan to open the theater to visitors in December.

On 16 March 2022, Russian military dropped an aerial bomb on the drama theater in Mariupol. At that time, hundreds of locals could have been inside, hiding and waiting for evacuation from the city.

After capturing Mariupol, the Russian occupying authorities announced they had finished clearing the debris from the theater. However, determining exactly how many people died there will likely prove impossible. Mariupol city authorities stated an estimated 300 deaths, while an Associated Press investigation cited twice that number.

Journalist Yuriy Butusov published intercepted conversations of a Russian burial team in Mariupol discussing the use of equipment, including tractors, to remove bodies from the drama theater.

The Mariupol City Council reported that occupation "investigators" claimed the smell of corpses in the drama theater came not from hundreds killed in the Russian airstrike, but from a hidden warehouse of rotten fish.