Serbia has jumped to the defense of its countryman Milos Bikovic after Ukraine attacked HBO‘s decision to cast the Russian sympathizer in The White Lotus.
Bikovic is set to play a wellness guru in Mike White‘s hit series, sparking anger in Kyiv, where the Ukrainian government produced a social media video accusing him of supporting Vladimir Putin’s war.
Bikovic and HBO are yet to comment on the video, which makes clear that the actor has become a Russian citizen and was personally awarded a cultural medal by Putin.
The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the allegations that Bikovic was a genocide apologist were “unfounded” and that he is one of the most celebrated actors the country has produced.
Per the Serbian news agency Tanjug, the government said: “We underline that the claims by the Ukrainian side are unfounded as Milos Bikovic is, above all, one of the most popular and the most talented Serbian actors of his generation who, despite his young age, has already left a mark in Serbian as well as international cinema.”
The Ukrainian video included comments by Bikovic from interviews. In them, he appears to back Russia’s occupation of Crimea, which became a precursor to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He has traveled to the peninsula multiple times, including for work, resulting in Ukraine putting him on a no-entry list in 2019.
The 36-year-old has lived and worked in Russia for over a decade, becoming one of the most popular actors in the country. In 2021, he was granted Russian citizenship by a decree signed by Putin who also awarded Bikovic a medal in 2018.
He does not appear to have endorsed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a substantive public statement. On Twitter (now X) soon after the invasion, he shared a poll showing trust in Putin was higher than Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.