"A disgrace and an insult": Ukraine condemns Woody Allen's participation in a Russian film festival

By The New Obs with AFP

Published on August 26, 2025 at 5:37 p.m.

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Ukraine on Monday, August 25, condemned the videoconference participation of renowned American director Woody Allen in a Moscow film festival, calling it an "insult" to the victims of the Russian invasion.

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The 89-year-old filmmaker, who has been shunned by much of his industry over accusations of sexual assault against his adopted daughter, spoke Sunday at an online event for Moscow International Film Week.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said his participation was "a disgrace and an insult to the sacrifice of Ukrainian actors and filmmakers who were killed or injured by Russian war criminals ." Woody Allen "chooses to turn a blind eye to the atrocities Russia is committing in Ukraine," the ministry said, adding that culture should never "be used to whitewash crimes."

Ukraine, which Russia attacked in February 2022, has called for the country's complete isolation from the international stage, including in the fields of culture and sport. Kyiv therefore systematically denounces the participation of Western figures in events in Russia, which have nevertheless remained rare since the start of the war.

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