Russian attack | The members of the Russian anti-war band Bi-2 were deported from Thailand to Israel

Anti-war the remaining members of the Russian rock band have been deported from Thailand to Israel, reports the independent Russian media Meduza.

All the members of the band have arrived in Israel on Thursday morning after complicated steps and diplomatic hand-wringing.

Bi-2 is one of the most popular rock bands in Russia. Its music is not particularly political, but the band's lead character is Igor Bortnik has been vocally opposed to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.

Bortnik founded the band in Bobruisk, now part of Belarus Aleksandr Uman with in 1988. The band later moved to Russia.

Band fell out of favor in Russia in April 2022 after refusing to appear pro-war Under the Z symbol in the city of Omsk. Since then, the Russian authorities have declared Bortnik a “foreign agent”.

Bortnik continued his criticism of the war, but eventually the band members fled Russia. Since then, Bi-2 has performed concerts in the United States, among others.

Band was performing in Phuket, Thailand at the end of January, when Thailand accused the musicians of violating entry regulations. The musicians were arrested and taken to Thai immigration authorities to await deportation.

The band's manager admitted that he had obtained the wrong kind of visas for the band, but according to him, similar cases are usually settled with small fines.

The group accuses Russia of pulling the strings in the background. A Russian opposition politician who knows the group says the Russian consul Vladimir Sosnov having demanded that Thailand take action to deport the musicians.

Thailand threatened to deport the musicians directly to Russia. The deportation was slowed down by the fact that three of the band members have Israeli and one Australian citizenship, and one still has Belarusian citizenship.

The Israeli, Thai and Australian consuls discussed the case for several hours. In the end, it was decided to fly the band members to Israel.

Russia has recently prevented several critical Russian artists from entering other countries.

Comedian Maxim Galkin was not allowed to Indonesia on Saturday, and Galkin was fined for his anti-Russian statements in the United Arab Emirates. The wife of Galkin, who has been declared a foreign agent, is a singing legend Below is Pugachovawhich also criticized the Russian attack.

Also from Russia's most popular rapper From Morgenshtern was denied entry to the United Arab Emirates. He has also escaped from Russia.