Lviv Dovzhenko Centre cancels Felix Redka's performance over public accusations

UKU lecturer's initiative leads to event cancellation

A concert by comedian Felix Redka was cancelled in Lviv. This decision was made after Taras Khavunka, a lecturer at the School of Public Administration at the Ukrainian Catholic University, published a post accusing the artist of spreading pro-Russian views. Khavunka was particularly outraged that the planned event was to take place at the municipal institution "Dovzhenko Centre".

What triggered the conflict

According to Taras Khavunka, Felix Redka had previously called the thesis that the Russian language is eroding Ukrainian identity "cheap ideological nonsense". The comedian also considered the claim that Russia is destroying the Ukrainian language a "propaganda cliché", defended the use of the Russian language in raising children, and mocked the processes of Ukrainian decolonisation, specifically the dismantling of the Bulgakov monument.

Khavunka emphasised that even the planned fundraising for the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the concert cannot serve as a "universal indulgence" for public statements and an anti-Ukrainian stance. Following this publication, the "Dovzhenko Centre" cancelled the concert without providing official explanations.

Artist's reaction and demand for clarification

Felix Redka stated that he had performed on this stage multiple times since the start of the full-scale war, and therefore considers the refusal to rent the hall unlawful. On his social media, he wrote: "Моє слобожанське еб@ло не проходить галицьке face-id?" (Does my Slobozhanske c*** not pass the Galician face-id?).

The comedian added that his mother works in Sumy under shelling, his father is at the front, and he himself regularly donates to the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Redka also mentioned that his concert in Lviv had already been cancelled last year, citing some "list of banned artists", and called on Mayor Andriy Sadovyi to clarify the situation.