A Moscow court on Tuesday held partly in favor of rock legend Andrei Makarevich in his libel case against the Izvestia newspaper, which earlier claimed he had performed for Kiev-loyal troops in the restive Ukrainian region of Slovyansk.
On Tuesday, the Savyolovsky Court ordered Izvestia and journalist Alexander Prokhanov to pay Makarevich a total of 500,000 rubles ($10,700) for an article written by the latter and published by the former on Aug. 17. They were also ordered to jointly pay 8,500 rubles for court costs.
The court ruled that the information contained in the article — that Makarevich had performed at a Ukrainian military base — was inaccurate, and called for a retraction, as well as the publication in Izvestia of the court's decision, Interfax reported Tuesday.
Makarevich said after the hearing that he intended to donate all the money to children in eastern Ukraine.
"I am giving all this money to Doctor Liza [celebrity doctor Yelizaveta Glinka], it will go toward the children for whom I sang in Svetlogorsk. It's good that our courts sometimes make just decisions," Makarevich was cited as saying by Interfax.
Makarevich has repeatedly come under fire for his anti-war stance on the Ukraine crisis and criticism of Moscow's policies.
In late September, members of the nationalist group The Other Russia reportedly unleashed pepper spray during Makarevich's Moscow performance to protest his concert in eastern Ukraine.
