The singer Udo Lindenberg (76) has shown solidarity with the well-known Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva and her criticism of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. He posted a photo of himself and Pugacheva on his Facebook page and wrote that his "long-time friend and colleague" was severely critical of "Putin's criminal war against Ukraine."

In addition, the panic rocker quoted from the song "Why are wars there for", which he said he had already sung in German and Russian together with Pugacheva in Moscow and Saint Petersburg: "They face each other and could be friends, but before get to know each other, shoot yourself dead, I find it so crazy, why does it have to be like this".

Lindenberg, who has lived in Hamburg since the late 1960s, and Pugacheva have been connected for many years. In 1988, in the middle of the Cold War, they recorded the first joint record ("Lieder statt Briefe") by a West German and a Soviet artist. They also performed together in the 1980s and had successful tours in the Soviet Union, Germany and Switzerland.

Pugacheva complained on Sunday that Russian soldiers were dying for "illusory goals" while at the same time Russia was being internationally ostracized by the war. The words of the 73-year-old, who is still considered a superstar in her home country, found a wide echo. The state media, however, ignored her criticism of the war and only reported on her demand to be labeled a "foreign agent" - a stigma in Russia - like her husband. She showed solidarity with her husband Maxim Galkin, a famous comedian in exile in Israel who had been blacklisted by the Ministry of Justice in Moscow.