Sergei Polunin, ballet star of Ukrainian origin with three Putin tattoos, is leaving Russia

Ballet dancer Sergei Polunin announced that he was leaving Russia. In a post on social media, he explained that he did not know where he would go.

"My soul is not in the right place. Thank you for everything that Russia has done for me. Time comes, and my soul feels like it is not where it should be. My time has long expired, as if I have fulfilled my mission here,” Polunin wrote.

The ballet star said that Russia has very kind and humane people. He thanked the audience and everyone he worked with for their support.

"It is still unclear where we will go, and I only hope that my soul is calm and in its place, my family is happy and it will be interesting. Forgive me for what I could or could not do, but I will still be useful," Polunin wrote adding that there was a long and unknown path ahead of him.

Polunin's followers assumed that his account was hacked as the ballet dancer's post contained many grammatical, let alone gross spelling errors.

The ballet artist, who was born in the Ukrainian SSR, has three tattoos with a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin: one on his chest and two on his shoulders. In addition, Polunin has the Ukrainian coat of arms tattooed on his arm. He got his last two tattoos depicting the Russian president in August 2022, that is, after the Russian army started the special military operation in Ukraine.

Sergei Polunin is 35 years old. He was born in Kherson, the Ukrainian SSR. He lived in Europe for a long time and performed in the London Royal Ballet troupe before he moved to Russia in 2012. Polunin is married to Olympic champion Elena Ilinykh. The couple is raising three children together. In 2023, the artist received the Russian Presidential Prize for Young Cultural Figures.

The artist moved to London from Ukraine at the age of 13, where he studied at the Royal Ballet School. At 19, he became the youngest principal dancer in the history of the Royal Ballet troupe in London. From 2012 to 2016, he was the principal dancer of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Theatre. He played supporting roles in such films as Orient Express with Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp and Red Sparrow with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role.

Why Polunin got Putin tattoos and when

Ballet dancer Sergei Polunin said that the tattoo on his arm depicting the Ukrainian coat of arms does not prevent him from loving Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sergei Polunin came to the state awards ceremony in the Kremlin on May 23, 2023, where he personally received the Russian President's Prize from Vladimir Putin.

"I was born in Kherson, I have the Ukrainian coat of arms on my arm. And no one has ever said anything to me in Russia. Therefore, I wear the Ukrainian coat of arms with pride and I also support President Vladimir Putin. I believe that he is a kind person, and I kind of love and support him. Today is the third time I shook his hand. And three tattoos. Good things come in threes," Polunin told reporters after the state awards ceremony in May 2023.

"A young but already recognized master who has written his pages into the world history of choreography," Putin said when presenting the award to Polunin.

Details

Sergei Vladimirovich Polunin (born 20 November 1989) is a Ukrainian ballet dancer, actor and model. He has Ukrainian, Russian, and Serbian citizenships, but has "always regarded himself as Russian". Born in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Polunin started out in gymnastics before switching to ballet at the age of eight and attended the Kyiv State Choreographic Institute. After graduating, he joined the British Royal Ballet School at the age of 13 in 2003. Polunin has received numerous awards, including the Prix de Lausanne and Youth America Grand Prix in 2006, and in 2007 was named the Young British Dancer of the Year. In 2010, at the age of 20, Polunin became the Royal Ballet's youngest ever male principal dancer. After two years, he quit the ballet company to focus on a freelance career. As a freelance principal dancer, Polunin has been a guest artist at various theatres worldwide such as Royal Opera House, Sadler's Wells Theatre, Bolshoi Theatre, Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, La Scala Theatre, Teatro San Carlo and was a guest artist for the Bayerisches Staatsballet.