Dublin City University (DCU) have cancelled the Royal Moscow Ballet performance of Swan Lake.
This afternoon, DCU announced that the ballet, due to take place tonight in The Helix, DCU’s theatre venue, has been cancelled. The Royal Moscow Ballet has toured Ireland annually for over 10 years.
In a statement, a DCU spokesperson noted that the company is made up of a diverse cast and crew, including Russians, Ukrainians, Belarussians, Uzbeks, Japanese, Irish and Polish who have travelled and worked together for years.
The statement continued: “However, as a result of the truly shocking events that are unfolding in Ukraine, is it crucial that Dublin City University and all civilised countries takes all practical steps to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and send an unambiguous message to the Russian Government that their deplorable actions have consequences that will have impact across political, economic, sporting and cultural spheres at all levels.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began yesterday as ground troops advanced on Kyiv and cities were bombarded with airstrikes, after months of a military build-up along Ukraine’s border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 137 civilians and military personnel had been killed, and 316 people wounded on the first day of the assault, according to Al-Jazeera.
The EU is set to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in the coming hours, RTE reports.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have left the country, and as many as 100,000 people have been internally displaced after fleeing their homes, the United Nations (UN) refugee agency has said.
A student protest against war in Ukraine is being held at 2pm this afternoon outside the Russian Embassy. This was organised by Trinity College Dublin’s Students’ Union (TCDSU), the Eastern European Society and the Russian Society.
Thousands of Russian citizens have attended anti-war protests across 53 cities in Russia, with at least 1728 people being detained.
