“Arthur, I’ll hit you hard. I didn’t talk about it, when I catch you somewhere, I’ll hit you hard, I give you my word,” Fidarov said. [в зоне СВО] there are even 19 year olds. <...> What else to talk about: what Arthurs, what Panins, what Galkins … “
In early January, Smolyaninov, during an interview, said that he “does not care about Russia”, adding that his opinion would not change “even if only one region remains” and “radioactive ash” from the country itself. In addition, he assured that if he had to fight, he would do it on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, then ordered to start a criminal case against the actor. On January 13, the Ministry of Justice included Smolyaninov in the register of foreign agents. The Kremlin said that what the actor said was “not good at all”, and his workshop colleagues also criticized the artist’s position.