Kanye West, also known as Ye, will perform in October in Russia, with two concerts scheduled for St. Petersburg. The American rapper will be the most famous Western musician to perform in the country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
© Muhammed Ali Yigit/Anadolu via Getty Images
19/08/2026
by
O rapper Kanye West, also known artistically as ‘Yes’, announced two concerts in St Petersburg, Russia, becoming the most famous Western musician to perform in the country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began more than four years ago.
The concerts are scheduled for October 10 and 11 at the Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg, and most tickets are already sold out.
According to The Guardian, after the announcement, made on Monday, almost all the most expensive tickets, which cost $1,580 (about 1,360), were sold in a few hours, while the cheapest ones, around 105 dollars (90 euros), are already sold out.
There is also the possibility that the American rapper will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin with the Vice-President of the Duma Committee on International Affairs (Low Chamber of Parliament), Svetlana Zhurova, to advance that everything depends on the agenda of both.
“ Hypothetically, this possibility exists ", admitted.
Kanye West, underline himself, has been the subject of criticism over the past few years for having made several statements of anti-Semitic content, conspiracy theories about the Jewish community and statements of apology to Nazism.
These statements resulted in the suspension of their social networks, the cancellation of contracts with global brands such as Adidas and even the ban on entering certain countries.
Among other cases, Kanye West stated, in December 2022, during a live interview, “I love Hitler” and “I see good things in Hitler” and argued that “all people brought something of value to the table, especially Hitler”, adding that “I did not like to see the word evil associated with the Nazis”.
At the same time, he published on social media X (formerly Twitter) an image that merged the Nazi swastika with the star of Jewish David, which led the owner of the X, Elon Musk, to suspend his account on the platform.
Last January, a few weeks before his new work was launched, Kanye West bought a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal, where he published an open letter entitled “To those I hurt”.
In the letter, he apologized publicly and said: “I am neither Nazi nor anti-Semitic. I love the Jewish people”, justifying their past behavior with serious mental health crises caused by a bipolar disorder.
“I’m deeply sorry and very ashamed of my actions,” he said.
Their statements led to several countries – including the United Kingdom, France, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, or the Czech Republic – prohibiting their concerts. Despite the controversy, the artist acted on August 8 at Algarve Stadium.
This was the third concert of the American rapper in Portugal, after debuting in 2006, at Cool Jazz Fest (Oeiras), and having returned in 2011, to the Southwest festival (Zambujeira do Mar).