The Mariinsky Theatre led by Pro-Putin conductor Valery Gergiev has announced the annual Casta Diva Awards.

The company noted that this year’s singer of the year awards went to Ekaterina Semenchuk and Vladislav Sulimsky.

The jury gave the prize to mezzo-soprano Semenchuk for her work at the Mariinsky Theatre’s “The Maid of Orleans” and “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” as well as for productions of “Sadko” at the Bolshoi Theatre, “Macbeth” at teh Teatro alla Scala, “Aida” at the Arena di Verona,” and Oedipus Rex.”

Meanwhile, Sulimsky won for her work in “Mazeppa” which was conducted by Kirill Petrenko at the Berlin Philharmonic.

Semenchuk is currently performing at the Bayerische Staatsoper in a production of “Macbeth” while Sulimsky is set to perform at the Berlin State Opera House. Both theaters have cut ties with pro-Putin artists and suggested they would not fire Russian artists.

The Mariinsky Theatre is a state-run theater that President Putin recently suggested should merge with the Bolshoi Theatre.