Moscow — Former Royal Ballet star Sergei Polunin, known for his tattoos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, announced Wednesday that he plans to leave Russia. The Ukrainian-Russian dancer was one of the most famous stars who supported the Russian unilateral annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its military assault on Ukraine. He was awarded with prestigious government positions.

A mess, with a spelling mistake message on his Instagram Polunin wrote: "My time in Russia has long expired, it seems at this moment I have fulfilled my mission here."

The post first appeared on Sunday on his little-read Telegram account.

Polunin, 35, did not give a specific reason for his departure, but said: "Thank you for everything that Russia has done for me. The moment is coming and the soul feels that it is not where it should be."

He said he was leaving with his family - his wife Elena and three children, but "where we will go is not clear yet".

In the summer, the dancer complained about a lack of security and claimed he was being followed.

Polunin, who was born in Ukraine, supported Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea. - a prelude to what's to come, full-scale invasion of Ukraine which Putin launched in February 2022.

The dancer received Russian citizenship in 2019. He was appointed acting head of a dance academy in occupied Crimea's largest city, Sevastopol, and director of the city's opera and ballet theater, for which a large new building is being built.

Just last year, he was awarded by Putin for his role in popularizing the dance. But in August he was replaced as head of the dance academy by former Bolshoi Theater prima Maria Alexandrova, and a week ago Russian Arts Minister Olga Lyubimova announced that his job as theater director would go to singer Ildar Abdrazakov.

This happened after, on December 9, Polunin published a social media post saying he was "very sorry for the people" living in the heavily bombed village near the Ukrainian city of Kherson, "where a generation of Polnins grew up and my Russian grandfather built a small house with his own hands."

He urged Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, saying even "the worst deal would be better than war".

"I hope for the humanity of the President of Russia and if there is an opportunity to have a normal professional conversation with Trump," Polunin wrote at the time. "It is better to show will and good nature yourself and start negotiations."

At the age of 13, Polunin won a scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet School in London and became the youngest principal dancer.

With his tattoos — including a large image of Putin's face emblazoned prominently on his chest — and rebellious attitude, he became known as the "bad boy of ballet" and caused a sensation by leaving the Royal Ballet at the height of his fame in 2012 .

He later made a hit video in 2015. of an Irish musician Hozier's song "Take Me to Church" and was the star of a 2016 documentary called Dancer.

He moved on to perform in the ballet of the Stanislavsky Moscow Music Theater before embarking on a solo career, performing in dance performances in roles including the mystic Grigory Rasputin.

In 2019 he posed for AFP with a large tattoo of Putin on his chest, which he later added to two of Putin's faces on either shoulder. He also has a large Ukrainian trident on his right hand.

This year he took part in Putin's re-election campaign as a celebrity endorser.