“We could not keep silent anymore.” Ilya Silchukou was a cultural icon in his native Belarus, the lead soloist at the State Opera Bolshoi. Then he dared to speak out against his nation’s authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko.
His friends warned him of the risks.
Still, it wasn’t until March 2021 when the police came after his wife, Tanya, and accused her of defrauding the nation’s state-sponsored child support system and threatened her with two years in jail that he knew he had to get out. He took it as a thinly-veiled threat to break up their family.
“It’s pretty incredible that he’s able to share some of the experiences he’s had at some of the best opera houses in Europe,” said Margarita Druker, Star Academy’s co-director.
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