Young Russians Take Odysseys Across Europe to See Taylor Swift Perform 

A fan shows a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert during a meeting with other Swifties in Lyubertsy outside Moscow, Russia September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
A fan shows a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert during a meeting with other Swifties in Lyubertsy outside Moscow, Russia September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
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Young Russians Take Odysseys Across Europe to See Taylor Swift Perform 

A fan shows a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert during a meeting with other Swifties in Lyubertsy outside Moscow, Russia September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
A fan shows a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert during a meeting with other Swifties in Lyubertsy outside Moscow, Russia September 15, 2024. (Reuters)

Artem, a 22-year-old IT student in Moscow, has no regrets about shelling out more than $3,000 to see his favorite singer perform.

Around the world, fans of Taylor Swift - "Swifties" - are used to paying eye-popping prices to attend her concerts. But in Russia, there are other challenges in the quest to catch the superstar on tour.

Many Western performers have shunned Russia since 2022, when Russia sent its army into Ukraine, and outward travel to the West is fraught with complications. But Russian Swifties, undeterred, embarked this summer on daunting odysseys - requiring visa appointments and clever flight combinations - to catch Swift on her sold-out Eras tour.

Elizaveta, a 20-year-old medical student, travelled with Artem to see Swift perform in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in July.

"When you realize your dream has come true, well of course, (you feel) happiness, joy, and great thankfulness that everything worked out," she said.

Elizaveta and Artem have become close to other Swifties in Moscow who set up a fan group three years ago on the Russian social platform VKontakte.

Members say dozens attend the events they organize, from singalongs to bracelet-weaving workshops.

"We try to create some kind of cozy community, a place for people to meet," said Diana, 20, studying international relations.

But for those with the time and money, nothing beats seeing Swift live.

Artem and Elizaveta were determined to do that this summer. Elizaveta flew via a third country to Greece, for which she had secured a visa, then to Germany. Artem applied - six months ahead - for an Italian visa through an agency.

"I combined it with a general European trip; if I was there just purely for the concert ... it would have been cheaper," he says. "It turned out to be about 300,000 roubles ($3,200)."

The students have learned to adapt to the shifts in geopolitics.

Elizaveta's Apple Music account is registered in Türkiye, while Artem and others use "workarounds" to listen to music on Spotify, which stopped streaming in Russia in 2022, after the full-scale war began. Apple paused product sales the same year.

And another fan, Dmitry, says Swifties around the world are just a click away.

"We are not really isolated from the rest of the world. (We) sit and watch TikTok, there are videos from foreigners and various discussions ... In principle, we have enough of everything. We have a very rich life."



Doctor to Plead Guilty to Supplying Ketamine to ‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry 

Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP) 
Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP) 
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Doctor to Plead Guilty to Supplying Ketamine to ‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry 

Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP) 
Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP) 

A California doctor charged in the overdose death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of illegal distribution of the drug ketamine, according to a court filing on Monday.

Salvador Plasencia, who operated an urgent care clinic in Malibu, faces up to 40 years in prison, according to a statement from prosecutors. He is expected to enter the guilty plea in the coming weeks.

Plasencia was one of five people charged in the death of Perry at age 54. An autopsy found the actor died from acute effects of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub in October 2023.

Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties. It is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and anxiety but also abused by recreational users.

In the plea agreement, Plasencia admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine at the actor's home and in a Santa Monica parking lot in the weeks before his death, in exchange for thousands of dollars, and that it was "not for legitimate medical purposes."

Plasencia obtained the ketamine from another doctor, Mark Chavez of San Diego. According to earlier court filings, Plasencia texted Chavez about Perry, saying: "I wonder how much this moron will pay."

Chavez and two other defendants already have pleaded guilty in the case. None has yet been sentenced.

A fifth defendant, Jasveen Sangha, whom authorities said was a drug dealer known to customers as the "ketamine queen," has been charged with supplying the dose that killed Perry. She has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in August.

Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom "Friends."