Ukrainian musician declines award, which Russian opposition leader Navalnaya also won

Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the frontman of Ukrainian band Bumboks and now a defender of Ukraine, has declined the Magnitsky Award, citing disagreement with Russian laureate Yulia Navalnaya’s stance on Western military aid to Ukraine.

“I sincerely thank all founders and jury of the influential international Magnitsky Award in London,” Khlyvnyuk wrote on Facebook, acknowledging their recognition of his contribution to freedom of speech and human rights in Ukraine’s independence struggle.

Khlyvnyuk, who serves in Kherson’s patrol police drone unit, said he could not accept the award alongside recipients who question providing Western weapons to Ukraine.

“As a father of two children living under missile strikes and a serviceman in Ukraine’s defense forces, I cannot receive this award together with other laureates who are ‘unsure’ about providing my country with Western armaments vital for repelling Russian aggression,” he explained.

The statement appears to reference recent comments by fellow 2024 laureate Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Alexei Navalny, who expressed doubts about Western arms supplies to Ukraine in an interview with Die Zeit, noting that “bombs are hitting Russians too.” According to the article, she questioned whether providing Western armaments to Ukraine was the right approach

Other 2024 recipients include Azerbaijani lawyer Zhala Bayramova, Afghan journalist Zahra Joya, and Venezuelan opposition politician Maria Corina Machado.

The Magnitsky Award, established in 2015 by British financier William Browder, recognizes achievements in investigative journalism and human rights advocacy. Previous recipients include Boris Nemtsov, Jan Lipavsky, John McCain, and Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov in 2019.

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