Aussie rocker Aleksandr Uman and his band Bi-2 avoid deportation to Russia, but end up in Israel

• In short: An Australian guitarist who co-founded one of the world’s most popular Russian-language bands has avoided deportation to Moscow after their anti-war stance raised the ire of the Kremlin.
• What’s next: The seven members of the group Bi-2 are instead in Israel, where guitarist Aleksandr Uman says they’re “free to keep moving forward”.

His band has more than 1 million YouTube subscribers and their music is streamed hundreds of thousands of times a month — but Aussies are probably hearing about Aleksandr Uman for the first time.

The guitarist and singer, who holds Australian, Russian and Israeli citizenship, has been at the centre of a diplomatic storm that started last week when he and six other rockers in the group Bi-2 were arrested in Thailand.

The band, which enraged the Kremlin with its strident anti-war campaigning, had been performing shows on the holiday island of Phuket, which is popular with Russian expats and tourists.

It’s understood Israeli, Australian and US authorities worked with counterparts in Thailand to make sure the musicians were not deported to Moscow, where they would have likely faced severe punishment.

The group arrived in Tel Aviv early on Thursday morning, after requesting to be sent to Israel instead of Russia.

“I’m very thankful to the Israeli consul, the Australian consul and American guys and all the other guys from human rights who helped to get us here,” Uman said after touching down at Ben Gurion Airport.

“The Australian consul did the greatest job.”

Uman, who is also known as Shura Bi-2, described his time behind bars in Thailand as “horrible” and said he was “very tired” following the ordeal.

“All of our friends who told everyone, all the world, about this situation, we would like to thank you all, journalists, musicians, human rights, thank you very much,” he said.

“We are free and we will keep moving forward.”

The flashpoint has raised questions about Russia’s influence abroad, as its invasion of Ukraine is about to extend into a third year.

A statement released by the band on social media claimed concerts in Thailand had been held “in accordance with local laws and practices”, however, local authorities said they’d been arrested for working without a permit.

The group formed in 1988 — shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed — and has gone on to become among the most popular Russian-language rock bands.

In 2022, after shows in Russia were cancelled, the band began touring abroad and had, most recently, been living in exile in Thailand.

Uman lived in Australia for several years in the 90s.

Russian MP Andrei Lugovi called the band “scum” for their anti-war stance, while the country’s justice ministry branded lead singer Igor Bortnick a “foreign agent” after he took aim at Vladimir Putin in an online post.

Russian composer and Bi-2 band member Yan Nikolenko thanked Israel for protecting the group from “real evil in a very, very bad situation” at a press conference in Tel Aviv. 

“We are always trying to be very honest with our music in every situation and our main strategy is to try to be persistent,” Nikolenko said. 

“This honesty is a problem for some people, we crossed some lines and after this crossing we are separated from some people in our country and we have to live with it.

“And now we know it can be really dangerous, because we can be stuck in the middle of nowhere just because we write songs honestly.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised diplomatic efforts that allowed the seven musicians to leave Thailand for Israel.

Welcoming the band to Tel Aviv, he said Israel was not concerned about Moscow’s response to its intervention. 

“We are going to do the right thing and I am very happy that we did it,” Mr Katz said.

Several members of the band are Israeli citizens.

Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson, commended Thailand’s decision not to send the band members back to Russia.

“Thailand realised that they didn’t need to make a lot of enemies by doing Russia’s bidding in this case,” Mr Robertson wrote on X formerly Twitter.

“Appreciate that the Thai foreign ministry recognised the importance of upholding human rights principles, & didn’t send them to face persecution and worse in Russia.”