Anna Trincher’s song “Margarita” became the subject of controversy over a songwriter linked to Russia, changes to the track’s credits, and MUZVAR’s claims of receiving threats.
Ukrainian singer Anna Trincher’s new single “Margarita” became the focus of a major media controversy only a few days after its premiere. The dispute was triggered by information about one of the song’s creators, Donetsk-born composer Vladimir Kurto, who, according to publicly available sources, has lived in Moscow for many years and continues to work within the Russian music industry.
The events that followed generated further attention. Music publication MUZVAR reported pressure and threats after submitting a journalistic inquiry, while information about the song’s creators began changing on certain digital platforms. At the same time, no legal connection has been established between the senders of the threatening messages and Anna Trincher herself, her management or her PR agency.
How “Margarita” went from a summer release to the subject of an investigation
“Margarita” was released on July 15, 2026, through the Mayak Music label. The artist presented the song as a light dance track suited to holidays, summer journeys and parties. A music video inspired by television and pop culture of the 2000s was released alongside the single.
The video featured Hryhorii Reshetnik, Oksana Hutzait, Oleksandr Pedan, Dmytro Koliadenko and Volodymyr Yaroslavskyi. It was directed by Mitya Shmurak. During its first days online, the video entered the music trends section of Ukrainian YouTube, while the song began climbing the charts on streaming services.
However, specialised publication MUZVAR was drawn not to the visual concept or commercial promotion of the release, but to information about the people who had created it.
Who was listed in the song’s original credits
According to information published on the day of the premiere, Svitlana Krys and Yuliia Piltsa were credited as the lyricists of “Margarita,” while Vladimir Kurto was listed as the composer.
This information is supported not only by the screenshots presented by MUZVAR. At the time of verification, Shazam’s database, which is connected to the Apple Music ecosystem, continued to identify Kurto as the composer and Krys and Piltsa as the lyricists. All three names were included in the consolidated list of creators.
Vladimir Kurto’s participation in the original version of the song is therefore not substantially disputed. Anna Trincher’s team also indirectly confirmed this when explaining how the rights to the composition had been acquired by the artist.
At the same time, describing Kurto simply as a “Russian songwriter” is not entirely accurate. According to published information, he was born in Donetsk and previously worked in Kyiv. The public discussion concerns not so much his origin or citizenship as his long-term residence in Moscow and his continued professional activity in the Russian music market.
What is known about Vladimir Kurto
According to MUZVAR and other publicly available sources, Vladimir Kurto worked in Kyiv for a period within the professional circle of producer Ihor Falyosa before moving to Moscow. He wrote songs and arrangements for Russian show-business artists and also spoke publicly about working at Grigory Leps’s studio.
Kurto is a member of the project “2 Okeana,” which he created with Viktoria Talyshinskaya, the former lead singer of the group Nepara. As early as 2020 and 2021, Russian media described him as a composer and arranger who had collaborated with Grigory Leps, Dima Bilan and other performers. The project continued its activities after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
MUZVAR states that Kurto continues to live in Moscow and work in the Russian music industry. The publication said it had been unable to find any public statement from the musician regarding the war.
Anna Trincher’s team explained the origin of the song
The initial text provided for the preparation of this article stated that the singer’s representatives had not offered a public explanation. By the time of publication, however, the situation had changed: Anna Trincher’s team issued a detailed statement to several Ukrainian media outlets.
According to the artist’s representatives, the rights to “Margarita” were acquired in 2021 from a Ukrainian rights holder or music broker who had previously purchased the composition. Anna Trincher allegedly did not enter into a contract directly with Vladimir Kurto, had never met or communicated with him and did not participate in the creation of the song together with him.
The team maintains that, when the deal was concluded, it was unaware that the songwriter lived in Moscow and continued to work with the Russian entertainment industry. The singer’s representatives also stated that they would not have purchased the material had they possessed that information.
According to management, the song was also substantially reworked over the course of five years, with only a small part of the original material remaining. The precise proportion of the music, lyrics or arrangement that was changed has not been publicly specified.
Why the information about the creators changed
One of the central questions concerns the subsequent editing of the credits. MUZVAR reported that it checked the release information again on July 19 and discovered changes on certain platforms and in materials distributed by Mayak Music.
According to the publication, the names originally listed were replaced in the updated version by Serhii Nazarov, who was credited as the author of both the music and lyrics. MUZVAR stated that it had retained screenshots of both versions. Other media outlets also recorded the change while reviewing the information on YouTube Music.
Trincher’s team later explained that Kurto’s name had been removed because it did not want to promote a person who continued to work in the Russian music industry and wished to distance the release from the Russian market.
However, this decision leaves an important professional question unresolved. Public credits are not merely a promotional element, but information about actual creative contributions. Simply removing a name does not explain whether the music was completely rewritten, whether the legally documented authorship changed or whether the original composer continues to receive royalties for the use of the work.
Furthermore, databases operated by different services are not updated simultaneously. At the time of verification, Shazam continued to identify Vladimir Kurto as the composer of “Margarita,” even though the information had already been changed on some other platforms. This may be the result of unsynchronised metadata updates, but a definitive answer would require an examination of the contracts and documents governing the rights to the composition.
MUZVAR reported threats following its journalistic inquiry
The second part of the controversy concerns not the origin of the song, but alleged pressure on the press.
According to MUZVAR, on the evening of July 19 the editorial team began receiving messages from a Telegram account using the name Bohdan. The sender allegedly demanded that the publication refrain from releasing material about “Anna T.” and warned that otherwise “there would be no MUZVAR” and no music awards ceremony associated with the publication.
The editorial team also claims that one of the co-founders received messages through a personal account, while another was given a verbal warning the following day about a possible physical attack. According to the portal, available recordings, videos and screenshots were submitted to law enforcement agencies.
MUZVAR also reported that after it confirmed its intention to publish the investigation, PR agency NAME PR restricted the publication’s access to other artists represented by the company. In particular, journalists were allegedly refused an opportunity to obtain a comment from singer KOLA.
Is there a connection between the threats and the singer’s team?
At present, no publicly available evidence proves that the threatening messages were sent on the instructions of Anna Trincher, her producer or her PR team.
The identity of the owner of the Bohdan account has not been independently verified. It has also not been established whether the person acted independently, represented anyone else’s interests or had any direct connection to the controversy surrounding “Margarita.”
Representatives of NAME PR categorically denied any involvement in the threats and stated that they did not support any form of pressure on journalists.
The allegations of pressure and the question of the song’s origin must therefore be considered separately. Vladimir Kurto’s involvement in the original version of the composition is supported by the credits and the team’s own statement. Responsibility for the threats, however, can be established only following an investigation by law enforcement agencies.
Why this case matters to the Ukrainian music industry
The controversy surrounding “Margarita” highlights a problem much broader than a single pop release. A modern song may pass through composers, lyricists, music brokers, publishers, labels and distributors. An artist purchasing finished material may genuinely have no personal contact with every participant in that chain.
Since 2022, however, verifying the origin of musical works and the current professional activities of their creators has become not only a reputational issue for the Ukrainian entertainment industry, but also an ethical one. In this case, approximately five years passed between the purchase and the release of the song. Political and cultural circumstances changed fundamentally during that period, making a renewed review of the participants before a major premiere appear to be a reasonable precaution.
The response from Trincher’s team clarified the mechanism through which the composition was acquired and stated that the singer had not directly collaborated with Kurto. Other questions remain unanswered, however: why the author information was not checked again before release, why the credits were edited instead of a transparent explanation being issued from the outset and whether the original composer retains a financial interest in the use of the song.
Definitive conclusions will be possible only after documents governing the rights to the composition are published and the allegations of threats have been investigated. Until then, it is accurate to speak of Vladimir Kurto’s confirmed participation in the original version of “Margarita,” the official explanation provided by Anna Trincher’s team and the messages documented by MUZVAR, but not of any proven involvement by the artist or her representatives in pressure against journalists.
