Fake ‘lesbian’ pop duo Tatu have staged a reunion at Vladimir Putin’s favorite football club, despite attempts by his fanatics to call the couple off as ‘LGBT propaganda’.
Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina, now both 38, rose to fame in 1999 – the same year the Russian despot first came to power.
Tatu was best known for their 2002 song All The Things She Said, which sparked international controversy for its steamy music video in which Yulia and Lena portrayed an underage lesbian couple.
In the video, the pair were seen in schoolgirl outfits, kissing passionately in the rain, while being watched by their peers.
ITV even refused to play the clip on Ant and Dec’s morning music show CD:UK, insisting: ‘It’s not really suitable for children.’
Fake ‘lesbian’ pop duo Tatu have staged a reunion (pictured) at Vladimir Putin’s favorite football club, Zenit, St Petersburg
Yulia Volkova (left) and Lena Katina (right), now both 38, rose to fame in 1999 – the same year the Russian despot first came to power
Tatu achieved international fame in 2002 with All The Things She Said, but caused great controversy
Performing for the first time since their last reunion in 2016 yesterday, Tatu sang Not Gonna Get us for the Gazprom-backed Zenit St. Petersburg clash with Spartak Moscow, which the home side won 3-2 to secure a fifth Russian Premier League title in a row.
Tatu came out of retirement as Putin’s censorship sought to erase any trace of their band amid a crackdown on LGBT propaganda, part of a wave of repression in Russia during the Ukraine war.
Before the game, they sang in front of thousands of Russian fans: “Nothing can stop this, ‘Not now, I love you’, ‘They’re not getting us’.”
Yulia is now a mother of two, while Lena, now married to millionaire businessman Dmitry Spiridonov, was visibly pregnant with her second child.
Tatu has not existed since 2011, although they did reunite seven years ago for a special performance.
Despite this, they are subjected to a social media crackdown from VK responding to the Kremlin.
Fiercely pro-Putin MP Tatiana Butskaya, 47, is demanding a complete ban on Tatu content, arguing that the duo’s creativity “promoted” same-sex relationships.
Tatu has not existed since 2011, although they did reunite seven years ago for a special performance
When Tatu got back together, Vladimir Putin’s fanatics called for the group to be canceled as ‘LGBT propaganda’
Tatu sang Not Gonna Get us for the Gazprom-backed Zenit Saint Petersburg game against Spartak Moscow, which the home side won 3-2 to seal a fifth Russian title in a row
“Never in my life in our childhood did it occur to me that a girl could be with a girl, until Tatu showed up,” Butskaya said.
Girls started holding hands and this became normal, said Butskaya, a pediatrician and deputy chairman of the Russian parliament’s committee on families, women and children.
She told a conference: ‘A song is not just a rhythm and words, it’s ‘Look at me, do what I do, try it, it’s okay’.’
The MP has even compared homosexuality to liver disease and tooth decay. “A boy should look like a boy, a girl should look like a girl,” she said.
“And if you have a disease, you should treat it and not brag.
“A boy should be like a boy, a girl should be like a girl.”
Yet her hero Putin used Yulia and Lena at the opening of the Russian Winter Games in 2014, when the couple got back together.
Lena (pictured) is now married to millionaire businessman Dmitry Spiridonov
Yulia (pictured), also an actress, has unsuccessfully tried to run for office in Putin’s party, with an official calling her “brutal” and “professional”
The new wave of censorship coincides with the war in Ukraine – and they are considered an example of how the West is poisoning Russia with foreign values.
The pair created a storm in Britain and elsewhere as they stormed the international scene kissing and cuddling on stage while wearing skimpy school uniforms.
Yulia, also an actress, has unsuccessfully tried to get elected to Putin’s party, while an official called her “brazen” and “professional.”
“Yes, I have sinned, made mistakes, but I have always found my way through pain, tears and suffering…” she said at the time. Yulia does not rule out a new attempt to become an MP.
The singer faced backlash after appearing on Russian TV show Lie Detector in 2014 after stating that she would condemn her son if he came out as gay.
“Yes, I would condemn him, because I believe a real man should be a real man,” she was translated as saying.
Fiercely pro-Putin MP Tatiana Butskaya, 47, is demanding a complete ban on Tatu content, arguing that the duo’s creativity “promoted” same-sex relationships.
“Never in my life in our youth did it occur to me that a girl could be with a girl, until Tatu showed up,” said Butskaya (pictured)
‘God created man for procreation, it is nature. The man is for me the support, the strength of … I will not accept a homosexual son.’
Trying to justify her opinion, she added, “And a man has no right to be af*g. Two girls together – not the same as the two men together. It seems to me that lesbians look much nicer aesthetically than two men holding hands or kissing.
In Britain, she enraged Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who launched a campaign to ban the All The Things She Said video.
At their peak, the pair defied their critics and topped the charts in many Western countries and also in Russia.