Singer Sharlot apologizes to Kadyrov and Putin in court

The musician, Eduard Sharlot, accused of rehabilitating Nazism and insulting believers' feelings, has apologized in court to the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, for "insulting" him, and to Vladimir Putin, whose portrait he had tore up.

"I tore up the drawing ... with your image without understanding why, without harbouring any anger towards you or obvious disagreement on some political issue. I ask you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for forgiveness for the stupidest act put on display," the outlet "93.ru" has quoted his words pronounced at the Samara Regional Court.

Besides, he has apologized to several other persons, in particular, to the head of Chechnya.

Eduard Sharlot, a native of Samara, is a Russian singer and blogger, best known for his song "Cheek to Cheek" (more than 14 million views of the video on the YouTube) and his outrageous behaviour. Two criminal cases have been opened against Sharlot under the article on rehabilitation of Nazism and one – on insulting believers' feelings. He has also been charged with burning his Russian passport, the RIA "Novosti" has reported.

In the summer of 2023, Sharlot moved to Armenia and declared his disagreement with the actions of Russian authorities, but there he quickly ran out of money. For this reason, he announced fundraising in his social networks. Last November, he decided to return to Russia and again asked his subscribers for money for a ticket.