Kusturica's tour schedule mentioned Yalta as "the Russian region" / Photo from UNIAN
Serbian filmmaker, actor and musician Emir Kusturica arrived in Russian-occupied Crimea on Sunday, July 23, in violation of Ukrainian laws, to perform the only concert with his No Smoking Orchestra band in Yalta.
"Everything here is interesting for me, because you are also part of the Russian Federation," he told Russian reporters upon arrival at Simferopol airport en route to Yalta, the Russian news agency TASS reported.
He confirmed his plans to visit sights of interest on the peninsula for possible venues of his film. "We will [visit locations for filming]. I'm very interested to see what can be done here," he said.
Read alsoDepardieu: ‘Persona non grata’ in UkraineKusturica has repeatedly expressed support for Russia in its aggression against Ukraine, namely the occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea.
Read alsoBulgarian TV channel apologizes for posting Ukraine map without Crimean PeninsulaNotably, his tour schedule mentioned Yalta as "the Russian region."
In keeping with current Ukrainian migration rules, the only lawful way of entering Russian-occupied Crimea is to cross the administrative border between mainland Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula.