September 04, 2026

Instasamka's London Show Is Cancelled


Instasamka's London Show Is Cancelled
The singer Instasamka. Okras, Wikimedia Commons.

On August 29, the Telegram channel Ekho reported that a nightclub in London cancelled a show by influencer and music star Instasamka after receiving a complaint from a Russian anti-war organization. The letter sent to the club claimed Instasamka had transferred payments to the Russian army.

Instasamka, whose real name is Darya Zoteeva, was scheduled to perform on November 14 at the London discotheque For Your Eyes Only. Ksenia Maksimova, chairwoman of the England-based dissident group The Russian Democratic Society, sent a letter to the club, demanding they cancel the Russian singer's appearance. A Liberal Democrat municipal councillor and a founding member of the all-party parliamentary group Russia Watch joined Maksimova's complaint.

In the letter, Maksimova claimed that Instasamka had sent money to the Russian army. She added that the singer is a provocateur who engages in Russian special information operations, saying Instasamka promoted "Russian Nazism, fascism, and Kremlin core values" and supported Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  

Maksimova said Instasamka was added to the Ukrainian database "Myrotvorets," which lists and doxxes Russians who support or committed war crimes in Russia's war on Ukraine. "Myrotvorets" used a quote attributed to the singer by the channel Imperya Ochen Zla ("The Empire is Very Angry") and reports by the Ukrainian media as evidence of the Russian singer's transfers to her country's military. According to independent outlet Mediazona, the Telegram account cited is "unreliable." Instasamka has denied sending money to the Russian army. 

The nightclub For Your Eyes Only said they decided to cancel Instasamka's performance "after careful consideration."

You Might Also Like

A Child's Cartoonish Crime
  • August 31, 2026

A Child's Cartoonish Crime

A 14-year-old child unintentionally tested the limits of playground use, resulting in two criminal charges.
Kremlin Trapping Expats
  • August 22, 2026

Kremlin Trapping Expats

Russian expats are in danger of losing everything and with gains hard to come by.
Samovar Memories
  • August 11, 2026

Samovar Memories

As fall approaches, memories are laden with summer joys huddled around the samovar.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955