RAMMSTEIN's TILL LINDEMANN Questioned By Russian Police Over Festival Appearance

According to Deutsche Welle, RAMMSTEIN frontman Till Lindemann was questioned by Russian police prior to his scheduled appearance at a festival over the weekend.

The festival, which was slated to take place on August 29 in the city of Tver, 180 kilometers northwest of Moscow, was eventually canceled due to reported pressure from authorities.

Although some media outlets claimed that Lindemann was arrested when he was visited at his hotel room by Russian police Friday night, Bild stated that the singer was merely warned by Russian police that he should comply with certain COVID-related conditions while performing at the event.

According to Interfax, Lindemann's manager, Anar Reiband, faces charges for having violated migration laws because he entered Russia under the claim that the purpose of his trip was tourism.

Lindemann is also scheduled to appear next weekend on the Red Square in Moscow at the Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival.

Earlier in the month, a museum in Russia threatened legal action against Lindemann over the "unauthorized" sale of a non-fungible token (NFT) bearing its imagery.

Till's first-ever NFT was set to include footage of the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which was originally shot for Lindemann's "Beloved Town" video. The famed museum, which has been itself minting official NFTs of its famous artworks, issued a statement that Lindemann's use of its works "was not and could not have been agreed with the museum." It also said that it has given Lindemann a "license violation warning" over what are claimed to be "illegal tokens."

According to Russia Beyond, Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky described the behavior of Lindemann and his team in an interview with Forbes Life as "rude and pigheaded," adding that it's a matter not only of intellectual rights, but of "intellectual aggression."