A Russian ballet star has said he’s leaving the country with his family because his ‘soul’ doesn’t feel like it’s in the right place. Sergei Polunin, 35, was born in Ukraine but has lived in Russia and been a vocal supporter of Vladimir Putin – going as far as having multiple tattoos of the Russian leader.
![[(FILES) Ukrainian-born ballet dancer and actor Sergei Polunin, 29-years-old, shows his tattoos, the one depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and the other featuring the Ukrainian national trident symbol, during an interview with AFP in Moscow on February 14, 2019. Former Royal Ballet star Sergei Polunin, famous for his tattoos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, announced on December 18, 2024 that he plans to leave Russia. The Ukrainian-Russian dancer was one of the most prominent stars who backed Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and military offensive in Ukraine. He was rewarded with prestigious state posts. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233654673-53bb.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Polunin has also been a big supporter of Putin’s war in Ukraine, even speaking in his native language to share his support for it. In a recent Instagram post, however, he wrote: ‘My soul is not in its place. Thank you for everything Russia has done for me. There comes a time when my soul feels like it is not where it should be.
![[LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 31:Sergei Polunin as Grigori Rasputin in Yuka Oishi's Rasputin music by Kirill Richter, set design by Otto Bubenicek, costume by Ulayana Sergeenko and lighting by Konstantin Binkin at The London Palladium on May 31, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty Images)performs on stage during the world premiere of Of ???Rasputin' at London Palladium on May 31, 2019 in London, England.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233698465-ede8.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘My time in Russia expired a long time ago and it’s as if I have fulfilled my mission here for now.’. Polunin has already been slammed for the post by Ukrainians who believe he betrayed them. One wrote: ‘I wonder how you live with an amputated conscience?’.
Another said: ‘I don’t believe it. Such a patriot and suddenly he leaves.’. Others have suggested the Putin-supporting Ukrainian was hacked, pointing out differences in his normal post style and the photo he posted. CBS reported this summer that he had posted about ‘lack of security’ and said he was being followed.
He also changed his tune regarding full-out support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week, writing on December 9: ‘Here is Kherson street where I spent my childhood, where the Polunin generation grew up and my Russian grandfather built a small house with his own hands.
