Munich Fires Russian Conductor Over Refusal to Condemn Putin

Munich fired the chief conductor of the city’s Philharmonic orchestra after he failed to publicly distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine.

Mayor Dieter Reiter late last week called on Russian Valery Gergiev to respond to the war, setting a deadline of Monday. In a statement Tuesday, Reiter said Gergiev failed to “clearly and unequivocally distance himself from the brutal war of aggression that Putin is waging against Ukraine.”