Ukraine’s embassy in Israel filed a formal protest with the Foreign Ministry after Russian-Jewish rapper GeeGun was invited to Israel as part of an Israeli Tourism Ministry campaign, calling the move “immoral and unacceptable.”
The embassy expressed “deep concern” over the official invitation extended to Russian rapper Denis Ustimenko-Weinstein, known by his stage name GeeGun, who it said publicly supports Russia’s war against Ukraine.
GeeGun, one of Russia’s most successful rappers, has about 5 million followers on Instagram. He is also an outspoken supporter of Israel and has posted photos of himself with Israeli flags and wearing a kippah.
According to the Ukrainian embassy, the Tourism Ministry invited the artist as part of an official activity, despite the fact that Ustimenko has appeared since January 2023 on the sanctions list of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
The embassy said that although GeeGun was born in Odessa, he “openly supports Russian aggression against Ukraine and mocks Russians who refuse to fight against our country.”
“An official invitation of a person who supports Russian aggression, remains silent in the face of the deaths of residents of his former city and ignores the daily bombing of Ukrainian cities, including Odessa, is unacceptable and immoral,” the embassy said.
GeeGun with Tourism Ministry Director General Michael Itzhakov
(Photo: Tourism Ministry)
The embassy said it had submitted a diplomatic protest to Israel’s Foreign Ministry and called on the Israeli government to halt any official cooperation with “supporters of Russian terror.” It also urged the Israeli public to boycott events involving GeeGun and other artists identified with Russian propaganda.
The Ukrainian protest comes days after Israel’s embassy in Kyiv objected to an event held in Independence Square, where participants allegedly made calls and displayed gestures with Nazi overtones.
The Israeli embassy said it was concerned by the incident, which it said “stains the memory of millions of victims of Nazism,” and called on Ukrainian law enforcement authorities to address the case swiftly.
The Tourism Ministry has not yet responded.