Bolshoi ballerina Olga Smirnova quits after denouncing Russian invasion of Ukraine

Olga Smirnova dancing in "The Nutcracker" in 2015.
(Image credit: Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images)

Star ballerina Olga Smirnova has left Moscow's renowned Bolshoi Ballet, after speaking out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"We cannot remain indifferent to this global catastrophe," Smirnova wrote on the Telegram messaging platform last week, adding, "I never thought I would be ashamed of Russia."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.