Is it true that Monetochka was banned from entering the UAE, Turkey and Serbia?

On September 16, 2025, information spread in the media that for “anti-Russian statements” the singer was denied entry into countries where there is a visa-free regime for Russians. We have verified the accuracy of this news.

“Foreign agent Monetochka was banned from entering the UAE, Turkey and Serbia for anti-Russian statements. Now the geography of Liza Gyrdymova’s tours has been reduced to the Schengen zone,” reported Telegram channel Mash (765,000 views at the time of writing this analysis). With reference to him, the news was reported Life.ru, "Gazeta.ru", Lenta.ru, "Komsomolskaya Pravda"and other Russian media.

After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian singer Elizaveta Gyrdymova, performing under the pseudonym Monetochka, moved to Lithuania. “I really wanted to feel freedom in my statements. I think this is the main reason. In principle, in previous years it was possible to maintain a balance. Somewhere in the song there's a metaphor for what you're really thinking, and my audience has always been able to read those metaphors. But now I don’t want to hide it behind metaphors,” explained she reasons for her departure. In January 2023, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation contributed Monetochka was added to the register of “foreign agents”; in September 2024, charges were brought against her criminal case under the article on failure to fulfill the duties of a “foreign agent”, and a month later she wanted.

The vast majority of states have lists of people prohibited from crossing the border. In rare cases, these registries are public: for example, in Estonia On the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you can use a person’s first name, surname and date of birth to check whether restrictions are imposed on him, however, the countries mentioned in Mash’s post do not apply to them. As a rule, foreigners learn about the ban when they try to enter the country. Thus, Turkish border guards made similar decisions in relation to some foreign journalists, and Serbian - Russian activists And Bosnian, Albanian and Montenegrin celebrities. Sometimes the media write about the restrictions introduced, but “Verified” did not find such reports about Monetochka in the Serbian, Turkish and Emirati press.

One would assume that Mash learned about the restrictions regarding Coin from its own sources. Since the tabloid writes about a ban on entry into at least three countries, in this case the authors of the post should have talked with employees of the border services, foreign ministries or other departments in Serbia, Turkey and the UAE. However, Mash generally does not name the source of the information.

The most likely candidate is a significantly distorted statement by the singer herself about trips to two of the three countries mentioned in the publication of the Telegram channel. September 4, in an interview with Alexander Plushev Monetochka toldhow a criminal case and a search changed her life. “Now you don’t even have to dream about concerts in Belgrade, for example, in Turkey, in Tbilisi, that is, in those cities where people from Russia can still come to a concert. And this was a blow for me,” the singer complained, adding that her lawyer “strictly forbade her” from traveling to these cities and countries. 

Russia has an extradition treaty with many countries, including member states European Union. Moreover, since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, EU countries, as a rule, refuse authorities of the Russian Federation in extraditing wanted persons, especially when it comes to political matters. Some other countries, to which Russians have emigrated en masse since 2022 and which still maintain close ties with Moscow, take a different position. There are several known cases when people put on the wanted list in the Russian Federation were detained in Kazakhstan And Armenia. And in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, activists even kidnapped and taken to Russia.

A lawyer who advises “foreign agents,” on condition of anonymity, confirmed to “Verified” that he does not recommend that people against whom a criminal case has been opened in Russia visit Serbia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Kazakhstan and other states that maintain friendly relations with Russia. According to him, the authorities of these countries can detain a wanted person upon request from Moscow. At the same time, our interlocutor noted that he is not aware of cases when these countries introduced a direct ban on entry for “foreign agents.”

Contrary to Mash’s publication, the geography of Monetochka’s concerts is not limited to the Schengen zone. It's on the schedule upcoming tour Moldova, Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea also appear. The same applies to the statement “According to Mash, the ban applies specifically to countries with visa-free travel for Russians”: to attend the singer’s concerts in Chisinau And Seoul Citizens of the Russian Federation do not require a visa.

Thus, there is no evidence that the UAE, Türkiye and Serbia banned Monetochka from entering. Apparently, the news is based on an incorrectly paraphrased statement by the singer herself almost two weeks ago. Then the artist said in an interview that for security reasons she does not visit Turkey, Serbia, Georgia and some other countries after she was put on the wanted list in the Russian Federation.

Cover photo: radiomonetochka / Telegram

Mostly not true

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