Upon arrival in Latvia, baritone Vasily Sokolov was disqualified from the Operalia competition.

Earlier this week, music critic Sergey Bulanov announced the disqualification via telegram and noted that Sokolov was not allowed to compete because of his service in the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army named after Alexandrov.

Sokolov was the only Russian participant in this year’s Operalia competition. He was born in Irkutsk and is a member of the Bolshoi theatre. He is also a graduate of Irkutsk Regional Music College named after Chopin.

The Operalia Competition began on Oct. 24 and is set to conclude on Oct. 30 with finalists including USA mezzo-soprano Maire Therese Carmack, USA tenor Anthony Ciaramitaro, Armenian soprano Juliana Grigoryan, South Korean bass-baritone Jongwon Han, Finnish soprano Jenni Hietala, South Korean bass In-Ho Jeong, bass, USA tenor Duke Kim, USA tenor, Anthony León, USA tenor James Ley, South Korean baritone Youngjun Park, Spanish soprano Serena Sáenz Molinero, USA mezzo-soprano Emily Sierra, and German countertenor Nils Wanderer.