Moscow court to hear suit against Pugacheva
The Moscow court examines claims by a veteran over the singer’s controversial remarks.
Moscow’s Savelovsky District Court will hear a lawsuit by Afghan war veteran Alexander Treshchyov against singer Alla Pugacheva, the press service of the capital’s courts of general jurisdiction said. Treshchyov was outraged by Pugacheva’s interview, in which she spoke about Russian politics and called Chechen separatist leader Dzhokhar Dudayev a decent, respectable and intelligent man.
«In the interview she allowed herself to defame the honor of our president, to doubt the correctness of the decisions he made as supreme commander-in-chief, and to insult the army and law enforcement agencies, while praising Dzhokhar Dudayev,» Treshchyov told RIA Novosti.
He asked the court to recognize Alla Pugacheva’s words as false and defamatory of his honor and dignity as «a citizen of Russia, a combat veteran and a patriot». Treshchyov asks to compel the singer to issue a retraction and recover 1.5 billion rubles ($15,000,000 at current rates) for moral harm. He intends to transfer the money to veterans’ needs and keep 1 ruble ($0 at current rates) for himself.
Over her remarks about Dzhokhar Dudayev, the singer has already been attacked by Chechnya head Ramzan Kadyrov and public figure Vitaly Borodin; Ministerstvo inostrannykh del — Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID, MFA) spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the singer’s interview «a bazaar of hypocrisy».
This is not the first time Alexander Treshchyov has filed lawsuits against public figures. In February 2024 he demanded one billion dollars from the organizers of a “naked party”. The claim was dismissed; the activist did not appear in court.
In the much-discussed interview, Alla Pugacheva spoke about the harassment of children and her departure from Russia, compared her marriages and named the best one. She also sharply criticized SHAMAN and Ekaterina Mizulina.
