Royal Opera House cancels Bolshoi Ballet's planned London tour after Russian's Ukraine attacks

The Royal Opera House have cancelled a tour from Russia's Bolshoi Ballet following the crisis in Ukraine.

The Moscow-based troupe, is one of the world's most famous ballet companies.

The dancers were set to return to London this summer, but the tour has been called off as Kyiv was hit by air strikes and Russian fighters closed in on Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

Wolverhampton and Northamptonshire theatres also axed their Russian State Ballet tour events in the wake of the Ukraine attacks.

It comes as the Kremlin was also stripped of two prestigious events to be held in their country, and Russia was banned from competing in Eurovision 2022.

The Champions League football final in May has been moved to Paris and September's Formula One's Russian Grand Prix has been cancelled.

In a statement, the Royal Opera House said: "A summer season of the Bolshoi Ballet at the Royal Opera House had been in the final stages of planning.

"Unfortunately, under the current circumstances, the season cannot now go ahead."

The Bolshoi Ballet had returned to the Royal Opera House in 2019 with a three-week season of ballets presented by Victor Hochhauser.

The company began with Yury Grigorovich's Spartacus, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre - who are known as one of the best symphony orchestras in the world.

The Bolshoi Ballet also performed a production of Swan Lake, The Bright Stream and Don Quixote during that time.