A 17-year-old Odessa native, known for performing Viktor Tsoi’s songs in Lviv, has become involved in a language scandal in Odessa

Becoming known after singing songs by Viktor Tsoi in Lviv and drawing the anger of the People’s Deputy Natalia Pipa, a 17-year-old boy from Odessa named Alexander, is unable to perform them peacefully in his hometown.

During his performance on Deribasovskaya Street, a police patrol approached the musician and demanded that he stop singing songs in the Russian language.

Local Telegram channels are publishing videos of the incident.

During the dialogue, the law enforcement officers threatened that “someone else” would approach the musician next time, and the conversation would unfold differently.

“There are plenty of Ukrainian songs, nobody prohibits anything,” one of the cops says in the video.

Recall that at the beginning of summer in Lviv, the Odessa resident had a dispute with the People’s Deputy from “Holos” (The Voice) party, Natalia Pipa, who attempted to prohibit him from singing Viktor Tsoi’s songs on the street. Afterward, the young man named Alexander was detained and, as he later stated, recorded a forced video with apologies. The teenager, being a minor, was placed in a shelter, but was later released. A campaign in defense of the Odessa resident unfolded on social media, in which Ukrainian servicemen took an active part.