A petition to strip Potap of his title of "Honored Artist" has gathered the required number of votes
An online petition calling for the title of “Honored Artist of Ukraine” to be revoked from entertainer and producer Oleksiy Potapenko (Potap) gathered the 25,000 signatures required for consideration in less than a week.
The author of the petition, Kateryna Taran, is asking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to instruct the relevant authorities to verify the facts set forth in the petition. Among her complaints against the artist, she cites the promotion of Russian-language cultural products, the devaluation of the Ukrainian language, collaboration with Russian citizens, as well as his residence and professional activities outside Ukraine.
The petition emphasizes that its goal is not to restrict freedom of speech or creativity. The author believes that the public activities of a person who holds a state honorary title should be appropriately evaluated in the context of a full-scale war.
The petition drive began on August 28—two days after yet another scandal involving Potap and Nastya Kamenskykh over a language issue.
Potap himself, after the petition appeared, stated that he was ready to voluntarily renounce the title of “Honored Artist.” At the same time, he proposed that he be granted the title of “People’s Artist” instead, stating that he had received true recognition from his audience over the years of his creative work.
Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the leader of the band “Boombox” and a serviceman in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, also reacted to the situation. He declared his readiness to renounce his own title of “Honored Artist of Ukraine,” calling his association with certain cultural figures a cause for “embarrassment.”
Source: Petition No. 22/269494-ep
Potap and Nastya Kamenskykh sparked a wave of outrage among Ukrainians after posting a humorous video about the Russian language and “freedom.”
Ukrainian producer and performer Potap found himself at the center of a debate after a failed joke about Maxim Galkin during the Laima Rendezvous Jūrmala 2026 festival in Latvia. Alla Pugacheva and her husband were in attendance at the event, and the artists’ reaction to Potap’s remarks sparked a wave of discussion on social media.
