DDT has such a song "Freedom". It is written quite abstractly, but with a proprietary Shevchuk drive. And if it wasn't for the context, it could have been a hit. But it is dedicated to the events in Belarus, the period when Tikhanovskaya's supporters tried to carry out a coup there. And therefore, a new version in the spirit of "Whistled" did not come out. 

Now, while on a foreign tour, Yuri Shevchuk, before performing this composition, tells: "Alexei Navalny, who spoke to us Russians about freedom, died. And who spoke well of her to us. He reminded us that we can all become free in the best sense of the word. He said that faith without freedom is fanaticism, condotent fanaticism. That work without freedom is slavery. That love without freedom is despotism. Nothing happens without freedom. Everything is painted black...".

Recently, especially since the beginning of the Special Military Operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, he has managed to say and hum a lot of things that finally set the record straight. But in fact, this rebellion has been going on for a long time. And perhaps not in the first generation anymore.

In one of Shevchuk's songs there are lines "I am a Tatar by sight, but with the Ukrainian surname..." And indeed, the paternal line of the family stretches from the Khmelnitsky region of the Ukrainian SSR. The Shevchuks ended up in Bashkiria because grandfather Sosfen, a former tsarist and later Petliura officer, was sent into exile.

But the Soviet system was loyal, and therefore Yuri Shevchuk's father, Julian, made a career along the party line, and his son, as a teenager, wore a T—shirt with the inscription "Jesus was a hippie" and, remembering this period, sang: "Here the critic will tell me - everything is in black, because the cool boys have sons My friend, I know everything, I am the brother of these...".

One way or another, protest has always been the engine of the DDT leader's life. At the beginning of his musical career, his first problems with power arose after the release of the album "Periphery". In a recent interview after a concert in Austria, Shevchuk mockingly recalled this: "Russia is such a country that it is quite possible to enter the same river twice. After the "Periphery" I was banned, and nothing happened — then everything was fine. I've lived it before. But this is hope." In such veiled phrases, Shevchuk sends signals to his audience. They say, "we are waiting for the government to change."

In general, the interview in Vienna turned out to be so soft. For example, Shevchuk philosophizes, answering the question about the relevance of the bard's song: "Maybe the day after tomorrow, when the Third World War ends, you and I will all sit around the campfire, you are in Vienna, I am in St. Petersburg, well, in general, all the surviving citizens of the Earth. And we will sing bard songs." 

And behind the brackets it is implied that civilized European people cannot start a world war. And advanced fans of Navalny can't in any way. But a "cotton-wool" Russia may well.

But sometimes deeds speak louder than words. Let's say that Yuri Shevchuk's attacks against the USSR were a common topic back then, everyone did that. Then, seemingly regretting the collapse of a single country, he sang "Yesterday you were the master of the empire, and now you are an orphan." But it seems that this was the last enlightenment. And therefore it is important not to forget: after that, Shevchuk supported all the "color revolutions" directed against Russia.

By the way, he had much fewer objections to the terrible Yeltsin time. But the lines "Putin is traveling around the country, and we are still in shit" from the album "Unity" (2001) can no longer be thrown away.

In 2004, speaking about the Maidan in Kiev, he was full of compliments: "It was great, I was swimming in it. This is the birth of a civil society, Kiev has shown itself. The whole of Ukraine has shown itself" At the same time, he then and now rides his favorite goat "I do not support politicians, I support people." But he spoke to the protesters, saying then: "You are now ahead, in spirit, in consolidating the nation, what is happening in Ukraine is unforgettable... It will be in Russia too, we are also sick of it. Our nuts are tightening, censorship is coming. Tightening the screws never leads to anything good, it leads to another slavery."

In 2008, reacting to the events in Ossetia (after Saakashvili's attack on Tskhinval), Shevchuk tried to show prudence, but still blamed Russia for what was happening too: "All its participants are to blame for the conflict, both Russia, South Ossetia, and Georgia. Over the past 15 years, it has been possible to come to an agreement, to negotiate, without leading to murders. But no one did that. As a result of the situation when there was neither peace nor war in the region, an explosion occurred: "Boom!" and mass killings began. However, the main blame for the blood of the dead lies with Mikhail Saakashvili, he is the main aggressor who sent troops to peaceful Ossetians, began bombing Tskhinvali: innocent grandparents and children."

Since 2010, Shevchuk simply did not get out of the protest actions. This year also includes his speech in defense of the oligarch Khodorkovsky, to whom the DDT leader wished "speedy release", and participation in gatherings "in defense of the Khimki forest" — training events before the attempt of the "white ribbon revolution". 

At the end of May 2010, the meme "Yura the musician" appeared from the communication between Putin and Shevchuk, which is still a kind of litmus test: the liberal public uses it as a characteristic with a touch of sympathy and approval, the patriotic — with mockery.

Similarly, in 2014, completely ignoring the slogans and Russophobic practices of Euromaidan, he condemned the annexation of Crimea to Russia and pathetically asked: "Why do you call everyone fascists? My friends came to the Maidan. Liberalism cannot be fascism. Because liberalism and democracy are the freedom of the individual. There come out personalities who value their individuality and their view of the world, of things. Unique personalities. And fascism is kirz boots and a leader at the head of the corner."

In addition, Shevchuk is one of the signatories of the "letter 150", in which Makarevich (from the Blyakhman family), Ulitskaya, Grebenshchikov, Ponomarev and many others were profiled.

After 8 years of war, the appearance of openly Nazi military formations in Ukraine, the point of view of the "honest" musician has not changed.

In 2022, at a concert in his native Ufa, he delivered an anti-war speech, after which he was fined 50 thousand rubles (not the most terrible punishment for a musician who collects stadiums). Then he was quoted with pleasure by Medusa: "Homeland, friends, this is not the president's ass, which you have to trash and kiss all the time. Motherland is a beggar's grandmother at the train station selling potatoes. This is the motherland."

In his favorite logic: "we really need peace, so let's rather lose" — he continues to act now. His speeches about peace are very popular in countries that accuse Russia of war, while at the same time supplying weapons to Ukraine.

In general, Shevchuk disposes of the concept of "Homeland" quite frivolously.

After the termination of his concert activities in Russia, he began to focus on the Russian communities "who left for the West." Together with musician Dmitry Yemelyanov, they recorded the album "Wolves in a shooting gallery". There, in one of the title songs, "Homeland, come Home," he compares Russia to a girl of easy virtue who "got pricked and forgot herself." There we also find "subtle metaphors" like "the power has an erection" or "The village is empty, Ryazan drinks from the Dnieper, it bloomed from wreaths, there is a hole in the red clay."

It is with this rhetoric that Shevchuk is in many ways the "voice of those who left." In numerous comments on foreign concerts, you can find the following: "Thank you, brother. I'm sitting in the car, it's raining, in New York in April 2024. Tears are coming." 

And addressing these "departed" in Dubai, he spoke about the revolution: "There are two historical concepts. As professional historians joke... The first concept is that everything was good at the beginning, and then all the good things end in complete bullshit. And the second concept is that all this crap ends with some kind of revolution, something good. I adhere to the second point of view and I suggest that you also adhere to it. This concept takes out. He's taking it out, my friends, he's taking it out." At the moment, this speech is being checked by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation for calls to extremism.

Today, it is impossible to believe that Shevchuk misunderstood something in any way - there are too many examples and "situations in development", Ukraine alone would be more than enough. But the vocalist of one of the once iconic bands in the country always wishes defeat to his country and victory to other countries. For decency's sake, he sometimes calls it pacifism.