Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos pays tribute to “open and welcoming” people of Kyiv

Franz Ferdinand have announced a North American tour following the release of their greatest hits compilation, ‘Hits To The Head’ – buy tickets here.The US leg runs from August to September with stops in Atlanta, New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles and will mark the Scottish band’s first tour of the country since 2018. General on-sale for the tour kicks off Friday (March 18) at 10am local time.

“I suggested it as a joke, and then it actually happened,” dead panned Kate McKinnon as White House press secretary Jen Psaki tonight. And yes Saturday Night Live decided to literally rip tonight’s White House set cold open from the headlines

Mila Kunis shed more light on her feelings about Russia, and the government’s invasion into her home country of Ukraine during a new interview with Maria Shriver. The 38-year-old actress admitted that even as Russian forces attack Ukraine, she doesn’t want people think of Russian people as the “enemy.” While she didn’t name Russian President Vladimir Putin by name, she pointed to those in power as the root of the problem.

Saturday Night Live” cold open, they celebrated Russia’s Ukrainian invasion with an “all-star” Fox News special.On the “Fox News Ukrainian Invasion Celebration Spectacular,” from Mar-a-Lago, Ingraham (Kate McKinnon) and Carlson (Alex Moffat) welcomed Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) — who sang “My Funny Valentine” in tribute to his pal, authoritarian Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Also appearing were Steven Segal (Bowen Yang), and Donald Trump Jr.

One week after paying tribute to Ukraine in its cold open, Saturday Night Live this week went for laughs by skewering Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham for taking pro-Vladimir Putin stances as Russia threatened its neighbor.

Gucci Mane has compared himself to Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin and former American Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama on new track ‘Publicity Stunt’ – check it out below.On ‘Publicity Stunt’, Gucci Mane raps “Ain’t no disputin’, I kill like I’m Putin. Got a truck full of shooters, I move like I’m Trump.

The world watched in horror on 24 February, when it was announced that Russia had launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine. Russian president Vladimir Putin, 69, authorised what he called a “special military operation” to “demilitarise and denazify” its neighbours last Thursday. The horrifying attack was launched in the early hours of the morning, with Russian troops crossing the border into Ukraine before launching missiles at airports and military bases.

Sean Penn was among the thousands (or maybe even millions) leaving Ukraine and heading to the Polish border.The actor arrived in Kyiv last week to film a documentary for VICE about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. On Feb. 28, he posted a photo in which he dragged luggage along the side of the road as he headed toward Poland.

Russia has warned Ukraine of its plans to launch 'high-precision strikes' on the country's capital - and told citizens to leave their homes immediately.

Franz Ferdinand have cancelled their Russian shows and apologised to residents who they know 'see the madness' of their country's leadership.

Mystery symbols are being tagged onto Ukrainian buildings which are being reportedly marked for Russian airstrikes, according to sources in Kyiv.

Franz Ferdinand have cancelled their upcoming shows in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine last week.The Scottish band have become the latest act to axe their planned Russian gigs in the wake of the widely condemned Vladimir Putin-ordered military assault, with Yungblud, Green Day and the Russian rapper Oxxxymiron also scrapping shows in recent days.After speaking out in support of the “open and welcoming” people of Kyiv last week, Franz Ferdinand have confirmed this morning (March 1) that their scheduled gigs in St Petersburg and Moscow on June 29 and July 1 will no longer take place.The band said in a statement that “the only reason for this is the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian state”.“We love Russia. This great country has inspired our band through its art and literature and since we first played there 17 years ago, we have built a rich and deep relationship with our Russian fans,” the band said.“Since Thursday morning [February 24], we have spoken to many of our friends in Russia via social media and have encountered unanimous opposition to this violence and solidarity with our Ukrainian friends.

As the world reels at the Russian invasion of Ukraine, former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko says he and his brother, Hall of Fame boxer Wladimir Klitschko, will take up arms to defend their homeland.

The New York Times.“I know that most people in Russia are against this war, and I am confident that the more people would talk about their real attitude to it, the faster we can stop this horror,” said Oxxxymiron in a statement (translated by the Times).“I cannot entertain you when Russian missiles are falling on Ukraine—when residents of Kyiv are forced to hide in basements and in the metro, while people are dying.”He is one of several other Russian musicians who have voiced their protest at the war. Kasta, Shym, Vladi, Khamil, Zmey, and Noize MC have all voiced their opposition to the attack on Ukraine.A post shared by Oxxxymiron (@norimyxxxo)Ukraine has officially severed diplomatic ties with Russia and declared martial law after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on the neighbouring nation.Since Oxxxymiron’s post last night (February 24), Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that 137 people had been killed, with 316 more wounded.Troops from Russia crossed the Crimea border into Ukraine on Thursday after President Vladimir Putin gave the order for his invasion to begin.The actions of Putin, who has claimed that Russia does not intend to occupy Ukraine and that his country’s actions amount to a “special military operation”, have drawn widespread condemnation from across the globe.Reactions to the situation in Ukraine from prominent figures in the worlds of music, entertainment and politics have been posted on social media, with the likes of Foals’ Yannis Philippakis, Bring Me The Horizon‘s Oli Sykes, Franz Ferdinand‘s Alex Kapranos, Yungblud, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Taika Waititi and Amanda Palmer all speaking out in support of Ukraine.