By Ekaterina Janashia | 2026-02-09

As Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears its fourth year, the country's music industry has been reshaped by state pressure and censorship. Anti-war stars have fled or gone silent, leaving the Kremlin to promote a new class of hyper-patriotic performers, often referred to as "Z-artists," such as Shaman.

But streaming charts from 2025 suggest the government's preferred "soundtrack of the front lines" is not what most listeners are choosing. According to a January roundup by Verstka Media, Russia's most-streamed artists are not the loudest flag-wavers but performers who have survived the war era through silence, ambiguity or carefully calibrated loyalty.

Rather than protest anthems or overt propaganda, the charts favor artists who avoid the subject entirely -- or gesture toward patriotism just enough to remain untouchable.

Patriotic without politics

At the top of Russia's streaming hierarchy sits 23-year-old rapper Andrey Kosolapov, known as MACAN. Named VK's "Artist of the Year" with more than 800 million streams, MACAN rarely addresses politics directly. His lyrics focus on cars, romance and male loyalty. Yet he has emerged as a symbol of a new, sanitized nationalism that avoids ideology while projecting strength.

In October, amid rumors that he had evaded six draft notices, MACAN posted a brief message on social media: "I'm going to serve." A month later, Russia's National Guard released photos of him in uniform, confirming his service in the elite Separate Operational Purpose Division.

MACAN has not explicitly endorsed the invasion of Ukraine. But at a public boxing event, he told fans he was "100% ready" to fight. so long as the opponent was "from abroad" and not a "compatriot." The comment helped cement his image as patriotic but not overtly political.

Pro-Kremlin activist Ekaterina Mizulina later dubbed him "the most Russian rapper," a label that showed how effectively his image aligned with state expectations without sounding scripted.

Silence as strategy

If MACAN represents managed patriotism, pop singer Anna Asti illustrates the cost -- and payoff -- of strategic silence.

Born in Cherkasy, Ukraine, Asti was reportedly sheltering from Russian shelling in Kyiv during the first days of the February 2022 invasion. Since then, references to her Ukrainian background have disappeared from her public image.

In 2024, she obtained Russian citizenship after delaying the move as long as possible, according to media reports. Despite backlash over her appearance at a controversial "almost naked party" in 2023, her popularity has not waned. VK Music registered her songs at 280 million streams in 2025.

Her refusal to comment on the war has drawn criticism from both sides. Ukrainian audiences view her as a traitor, while Russian nationalist singer Vika Tsyganova has accused her of being motivated solely by money. Yet her fans appear unmoved. Under a 2022 TikTok video in which Asti teaches Ukrainian words, one comment still reads: "Are you Ukrainian? I don't care -- I adore you anyway."

Others use silence less as a shield and more as a statement.

The hip-hop duo Miyagi & Andy Panda largely withdrew from public life after February 2022, canceling tours and declining commercial offers. Miyagi's mother recalled him asking rhetorically, "What concerts? People are dying."

Though absent from the stage, the duo continued releasing music in 2024 and 2025. Fans have interpreted lyrics about "propaganda breathing poison" and "orcs underfoot," a term Ukrainians often use to describe Russian soldiers, as veiled anti-war messages. The artists have denied that interpretation, saying "orcs" represents a generalized evil.

The ambiguity has not hurt their reach. In 2025, their tracks were streamed more than 590 million times, suggesting a large audience for introspective, melancholic music over aggressive prewar "flex rap."

Nothing to censor

Teen pop star Vanya Dmitrienko offers another model of adaptation.

In February 2022, he refused to host an awards ceremony, citing his "moral compass" and saying he could not smile while his "heart is in pain." By late 2025, Dmitrienko had reemerged as a mainstream figure, winning "Artist of the Year" at the Yandex Music Awards and appearing at pro-war youth forums organized by Kremlin officials.

He never retracted his earlier remarks or openly praised the war. Instead, he resumed his career as if the crisis he once referenced had faded into the background.

The success of openly apolitical performers reinforces that trend.

Singer MONA, who began her career in Sweden before returning to Moscow, has never commented publicly on politics. The band Bond s knopkoy, named Yandex's "Band of the Year," topped the charts for 85 days with the song Kukhni. Activists have described their lyrics as having "nothing to censor."

A Russian musician told Verstka that public fatigue with war-themed culture is growing. She said hyper-patriotic concerts have slowed and that artists like Shaman are mentioned less frequently, replaced by performers focused on inward-looking themes.

For some listeners, that avoidance is unforgivable.

"It's sad to watch musicians, artists and other famous people fall silent and try their hardest to pretend that everything is fine here," Danila, a 24-year-old Muscovite, told Kontur.

He said he no longer listens to artists who stayed quiet.

"The Russian music scene practically doesn't exist for me," he said, adding that buying music or concert tickets feels like moral endorsement.

"Currently, I have more respect for the work of those who left Russia, because they say what they think, and they pay for it by living far from their homeland and their fans."