The world-famous Russian-Ukrainian ballet dancer announced his departure from Russia

Ballet dancer Sergei Polunin is going to leave Russia. He published a kind of farewell post on his page on the social network.

"The soul is not in place. Thank you for everything Russia has done for me. The time comes — and the soul feels not where it should be. It's been a long time since my time in Russia has expired, as if at the moment I have fulfilled my mission here. I was helped to create many fantastic performances. Everything I need and even more was given to me," he wrote.

Polunin noted that it is not yet clear where he will go with his family, but the main thing is that the family should be happy and interesting.

"I'm sorry for what I could or could not do, but I will still be useful. But now I still have a long way to go, the other way is unknown. Thanks to the audience for their support, thanks to everyone who worked with me and helped," the dancer concluded.

Polunin was born in Kherson in 1989. At the age of eight he got into the Kherson dance school "Juventa". A year later, at the age of nine, he entered the Kiev Choreographic School. In 2003, at the age of thirteen, with the support of the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation, he moved to London to study at the Royal Ballet School. After completing his studies at the age of 17, he was accepted into the troupe of the London Royal Ballet. Two years later, at the age of 19, he became the youngest premiere in the history of the troupe. In January 2012, Polunin unexpectedly left the Royal Ballet and London. He stated that "because of the too harsh atmosphere in the theater, the artist dies in it." Polunin left for Russia, where in the summer of 2012, at the invitation of the artistic director of the ballet troupes of two Russian theaters, Igor Zelensky, he became the premiere of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Theater and at the same time a permanent guest soloist of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater.

Since 2019, he has been the head of the Sevastopol Academy of Choreography. In August of this year, he was replaced as rector by prima ballerina People's Artist of Russia Maria Alexandrova.

Since December 2019, Polunin has been the director of the Sevastopol Opera and Ballet Theater under construction. The theater building is being erected on the territory of the future cultural cluster at Cape Khrustalny. The construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025. In early December, he was replaced by Anna Kasatkina, who had previously worked at the Mariinsky Theatre.

In August of this year, Polunin married Olympic figure skating champion Elena Ilyinykh. The couple announced their engagement five years ago. Over the years, they had three sons — Mir, Dar and Era.