Russian media claims that Kanye West has arrived in Moscow. If true, the US rapper’s presence in the city would be a propaganda coup for dictator Vladimir Putin.
Most Western stars have shunned Moscow – once a money-spinning venue for performers – since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine two years ago.
Footage allegedly shows West in the Moscow subway, with the Moskvichka showbiz outlet claiming the reason for his visit was to mark the birthday of Russian designer Gosha Rubchinsky, and not for a concert.
Other videos allegedly showed him at a five star hotel close to the Kremlin, following a reported arrival by private plane.
This comes after West and his wife Bianca Censori were spotted in Paris and Tokyo this month.
Prominent producer Yana Rudkovskaya was among those claiming West had touched down in the Russia: ‘Kanye West is already in Moscow! This is super news!
‘Staying in the very heart of the capital! Fingers crossed for the show at Luzhniki! [stadium].’
Earlier she had claimed the American star would appear in Moscow for a concert in autumn.
‘I am involved in this,’ she boasted, yet there has been no official confirmation – and there were denials of any immediate performance.
Putin-controlled state media outlet RIA Novosti claims West is in Moscow, as does the war channel Zvezda, which is considered a mouthp, which is spearheading the war against Ukraine.
Luzhniki stadium denied Kayne West would give an imminent concert.
One of West’s representatives has previously denied that the rapper would come to Russia to make the country his ‘second home’ as claimed by Russian media in 2022.
West’s representative Pierre Rougier told Rolling Stone that these claims were ‘entirely fabricated’.
If confirmed as true, West’s presence in Moscow would be seen by many as a boost for the Putin regime.
But one close Putin backer – unofficial moral guardian Ekaterina Mizulina, 39 – insisted in May that the star should not be welcomed in Russia.
‘We don’t need any Kanye West with his naked woman,’ she said. ‘We have enough of our own ‘naked’ parties.’
But other Putin loyalists believe it would be a triumph to have the prominent singer eventually performing in Russia.
Putin-backing TV presenter and media manager Tina Kandelaki, 48, claimed in May: ‘Kanye will soon be with us… Our Russian brands are already sewing swimsuits with a fleece for the wife of the outrageous musician.’
She claimed to rival broadcasters her TV channel already had rights for a Kanye West tour to Moscow.
‘I want to warn you that all rights to a possible broadcast of the concert are already in the hands of TNT, do not try to lure our overseas comrade to your camp,’ she said.
Mizulina, a London-educated art historian, heads the Safe Internet League, created to censor the web and ‘fight prohibited content’ in Russia.
She is daughter of a fanatically pro-Putin and anti-Ukrainian senator, and was reported last month to have ‘become close’ to Putin with rumours of a romantic link. She is at the forefront of his drive to return Russia to traditional values.