RUSSIAN opera singer Vadim Cheldiyev has been sentenced to ten years in a maximum-security prison for organizing a protest in 2020 against COVID lockdowns in the North Caucasus. Cheldiyev never attended the protest because he was arrested after posting about it online. He said he planned the event because he was worried about job losses due to lockdowns, which were initiated after two alleged COVID deaths in the region.

Several years ago, Cheldiyev suspended his career at the famous Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg in order to return to his native town in the Caucasus to start a charity. He explained his move in this video, which offers a fascinating glimpse of “The Man Who Quit Opera to Help the Poor.”

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