President Vladimir Putin removed actresses Chulpan Khamatova and Ksenia Rappoport from the Board of Trustees of the Circle of Good Foundation, who oppose the war. The decree was published on the Kremlin website.
Instead, Putin included Maria Lvova-Belova, a children's ombudsman and a member of the Presidium of the United Russia General Council, Vladislav Tretiak, a hockey player and United Russia deputy, and Oleg Novitsky, a cosmonaut, into the council. Lvova-Belova in September said that Russia took 30 Ukrainian children out of Mariupol, who were allegedly abandoned by foster parents. She claimed that the children “spoke negatively about the president, said all sorts of nasty things, sang the anthem of Ukraine,” but then “this negativity turned into love for Russia.”
Chulpan Khamatova, an actress and founder of the Podari Zhizn Foundation, who supported Putin in the 2012 elections, left Russia in March. Now she lives in Riga. “In order for me to return to Russia, I have two options now: stop saying that this is a war, that this is a tragedy, not to pay attention to what I see with my own eyes, to ask for forgiveness for not supporting the beginning military operation, and further down the list: to play by the rules of the game that will be dictated to me, ”this is how Khamatova explained her decision.
The Circle of Kindness Foundation helps children with rare and serious diseases. Putin announced its creation in 2020, it was supposed to be financed by increasing the personal income tax for Russians whose annual income is above 5 million rubles.
