A Ukrainian woman threatened to blow up a concert by pop singer Svetlana Loboda in Slovakia after being turned away with a fake ticket.
The 35-year-old suspect, identified by Russian news outlet Mash as Alena M., was arrested by Slovak police, deported back to Italy, and barred from entering Slovakia for two years.
According to the report from Mash, the woman had travelled to the eastern Slovak city of Kosice with four female friends to celebrate her 35th birthday. When the group arrived at the entrance of the Steel Arena for the performance, security staff discovered that the ticket given to her as a birthday present was fraudulent.
Her four companions were allowed through the turnstiles into the venue, leaving the birthday celebrant stranded outside the doors. The woman then walked to a nearby bar to drink whiskey and drown her disappointment before dialing emergency services.
Police response at Steel Arena
Speaking on the phone in a mixture of Ukrainian and Italian, the intoxicated caller told police that she would blow up the singer and destroy what she described as her cursed show.
Police units immediately deployed to the Steel Arena following the emergency call, but the concert had already finished by the time officers arrived on the scene. Authorities carried out a full inspection of the entertainment complex and determined that there were no explosives or potential security threats present inside the building.
Officers later tracked down and detained the woman. During questioning, she admitted her guilt and expressed regret for making the threat. Slovak authorities subsequently expelled her back to Italy, where she legally lives and works, and issued a formal ban preventing her from returning to Slovakia for the next two years.
Venue background and reduced booking fees
The incident occurred at the Steel Arena, also known as the Ladislav Trojak Arena, a major multi-purpose sports and concert venue in Kosice, Slovakia's second-largest city. The arena regularly hosts large entertainment events and international ice hockey matches in the eastern region of the country, which borders Ukraine.
Svetlana Loboda is a well-known Ukrainian pop star and former Eurovision Song Contest participant who initially achieved fame as a member of the vocal group Nu Virgos. The singer has staged concerts across Europe for over a decade, though she has recently faced challenges filling concert halls abroad.
Reports published in March revealed that Loboda had lowered her booking fees after struggling to achieve sellout crowds at international venues. The singer currently charges 120,000 euros, equivalent to approximately 11.2 million rubles, for a live performance, representing a reduction of 4 million rubles compared with her previous fee.
