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A song by exiled Russian pop singer Monetochka has been removed from Spider-Man: Brand New Day in Ukraine and from a pirate copy prepared for Russian cinemas, The Times reported. Ukrainian screenings cut the scene after complaints about featuring a Russian artist. In the Russian copy, reports said her track was replaced by Rihanna’s S&M; no official explanation was given, and The Times linked the change to Monetochka’s public opposition to Moscow’s invasion.

Details

• Scene location: The track, Monopoliya (Monopoly), plays during Spider-Man’s visit to Brighton Beach, the New York neighborhood with a large Russian-speaking diaspora. The Times said the scene was removed in Ukraine during the week before its August 7 report. It did not identify the cinemas or the authority that ordered the cut.
• Viewer objection: One woman wrote on social media that she had bought tickets before learning the Marvel film included a song by a Russian artist. She dismissed distinctions involving “good Russians,” saying her home was occupied and she hated everything associated with the Russian Federation.
• Russian substitution: The pirate edition due to screen in Russia at the end of August reportedly replaced Monopoliya with Rihanna’s S&M, a song about sadomasochistic sex. No official reason was announced. The Times said the decision was “almost certainly” connected to the singer’s antiwar stance, presenting that link as an assessment rather than a confirmed explanation.
• Singer’s record: Monetochka, whose real name is Yelizaveta Gyrdymova, left Russia after the 2022 invasion and now lives in Lithuania. She has publicly opposed the war and helped raise hundreds of thousands of euros for Ukrainian refugees. She also posted a video of herself dancing to the song in a Spider-Man T-shirt.
• Moscow pressure: The Kremlin has designated Monetochka a “foreign agent.” In the month before the report, she was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison for failing to use that label on social-media posts, as required by law. The Times described the foreign-agent system as a tool Moscow has used to stifle dissent.

Background

Ukraine banned public playing of Russian-language music after the war began when performers are Russian citizens, or remained Russian citizens after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. The reporting said exceptions exist for Russian musicians who publicly condemned the invasion. Monetochka has done so, but that did not prevent the complaints cited in Ukraine.

What’s next

The next verifiable point is the pirate version’s planned Russian screening at the end of August 2026, when audiences can see whether Rihanna’s song remains in place. The report gave no date for any Ukrainian review or restoration of the removed scene.