Kanye West, also known as Ye, reportedly paid a surprise visit to Russia on Sunday, where he was swarmed by local fans and photographed shopping in Moscow.
The 47-year-old American rapper is said to be in the Eurasian nation to celebrate Russian fashion designer Gosha Rubchinskiy’s 40th birthday – and not for a concert. In December 2023, Kanye appointed the post-Soviet fashion poster kid, whom he called “legendary,” as the creative head of his Yeezy brand.
“Hello, Moscow,” the rapper said in Russian in a statement posted Sunday on VKontakte to mark his arrival in the city.
He was purportedly seen on the Moscow metro, and other footage showed him at a five-star hotel near the Kremlin. According to reports, Kanye was lodging in the presidential suite at the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow, which costs up to $13,000 a night and offers an incredible view of St. Basil’s Cathedral.
Amateur videos depict hundreds of people waiting in the vicinity of the hotel – which continues to operate under the “Four Seasons” name despite the hotel chain having divested its operations in Russia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine
West’s whereabouts in Moscow have been confirmed by the state-run media agency RIA Novosti and Zvezda, which serves as the Russian defense ministry’s spokeschannel.
In the past, Ye stated that he was ‘pro-Putin’ and referred to himself as a ‘Young Putin’ in an interview with the Drink Champs podcast.
