Radio Liberty reported that several hundred demonstrators gathered outside the Royal Opera House demanding the cancellation of Netrebko’s appearances. The singer, known for her ties to Vladimir Putin, is featured in the Royal Opera’s new season, with all tickets for Tosca already sold out.“As an Englishman, I am ashamed of the hypocrisy of the Royal Opera and how they have betrayed Ukraine. It is a disgrace to the British nation. It affects me deeply because Anna is close to Putin, and Russian artists are allowed to perform while Ukrainian artists are sacrificing their lives,” protester Stephen Lacey said.Art historian Yaroslava Matvienko, who moved to the UK after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, also joined the rally."This is a striking example of love turning into hate. In my youth, she was a gateway to the world of opera and classical music; it was thanks to her that I began to understand opera. Now, my indignation at her open fanaticism toward Putin knows no bounds. For me, this is something beyond humanity," said Matvienko.At the end of June, Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya condemned the Royal Opera House in London for including Anna Netrebko in its 2025–2026 international film season program.In August, more than 50 Ukrainian writers and artists, a cross-party group of British MPs, and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark called on the Royal Opera to exclude the Russian soprano from its new season.Earlier, in May 2024, a planned Netrebko concert in Lucerne, Switzerland, was canceled at the request of local authorities. Just days later, around 400 protesters gathered outside the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden, Germany, to oppose her performance at the city’s May Festival.Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in March 2022, Netrebko has faced repeated backlash for her public support of Vladimir Putin. That month, the Metropolitan Opera in New York replaced her with Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in Puccini’s Turandot.The following year, on August 17, 2023, organizers in Prague canceled a scheduled Netrebko concert set for October, again citing her Kremlin ties.