Maxim Alexandrovich Galkin (; born 18 June 1976) is a Russian and Israeli comedian, television presenter and singer. Galkin left Russia in March 2022 following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and was subsequently listed as a

foreign agent A foreign agent is any person or entity actively carrying out the interests of a foreign principal while located in another host country, generally outside the Diplomatic immunity, protections offered to those working in their official capacity fo ...

by the

Russian government The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

Biography

He first became famous as an

impersonator An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Living history: After close study of some historical figure, a performer may dress and speak "as" that ...

and is known for his talent at

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

and his

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

s with the famous Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva and Ani Lorak. Galkin was the host of the Russian version of '' Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' from 2001 to 2008. In 2010, Galkin was one of the few comedians performing an impression, albeit 'light-hearted', of President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, on Russia's Channel One TV channel. On New Year's Eve in 2013, Galkin and the then popular Ukrainian comedian

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

performed together in a traditional New Year's program called “'' Little Blue Light''” on the

Russia-1 Russia-1 () is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship channel of the All-Russia ...

TV channel. Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, who later became a leading Kremlin propagandist, also appeared on the show as one of the presenters and danced in the audience during Galkin and Zelenskyy's performance. After November 2016, he hosted a children's, talent show on TV "Best of all" and did so at least until mid-2017.

Personal life

Galkin is Jewish, from his mother's side. Since 2001, Galkin has been romantically involved with the famed Soviet and Russian singer Alla Pugacheva. On December 24, 2011, the couple married, despite the significant age gap. On September 18, 2013 Galkin and Pugacheva became the biological parents of twins via a surrogate mother – Elizaveta and Harry. In August 2022, Russian media reports suggested that his wife and children may have returned to Russia, and in September 2022, Russia listed him as a

. Since then, every post he uploads on Instagram has a 24-word disclaimer stating that he is a foreign agent. Russian media also puts an asterisk to his name stating that he is a foreign agent.

Political views

Galkin has been openly critical about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He accused the Russian authorities of hypocrisy and lies with respect to war crimes that Russia has committed in firing rockets at the Ukrainian city of Odesa, its siege and destruction of Mariupol and its atrocities in Bucha. He spoke up negatively about the

Russian gay propaganda law For the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values, commonly known as the Russian anti-LGBT law or as the Russian anti-gay law, is a law of Russia. It was Unanimity, unanimously passed by the ...

, comparing it to a '

witch-hunt A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or Incantation, incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the ...

', which is created only for political PR and public distraction from more important issues. However, he does not deem it necessary to legalize

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and

LGBT adoption Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children or adults by Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child or adult (stepchild ad ...

because it can provoke a negative reaction in society.

Awards

* Medal "For Faith and Goodness" of

Kemerovo Oblast Kemerovo Oblast (, ), also known as Kuzbass (, ), after the Kuznetsk Basin, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Kemerovo is the administrative center and largest city of the oblast. Kemerovo Oblast is one of Rus ...

(2004) *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

(2006) * Order of Honor of Kuzbass (2013)

References

External links

* *
Maxim Galkin at the Forbes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galkin, Maxim Living people 1976 births People from Naro-Fominsky District Russian Jews Russian Orthodox Christians from Russia Russian male comedians Russian game show hosts Russian comedy musicians Russian television personalities Russian parodists Russian male television actors Russian State University for the Humanities alumni Fabrika Zvyozd Russian YouTubers Russian stand-up comedians Russian emigrants to Israel People listed in Russia as foreign agents Comedy YouTubers