DONETSK, December 15. /TASS/. The Opera and Ballet Theater in Donetsk received on Monday a certificate for 1 million roubles (about $17,600) issued by opera singer Anna Netrebko, which she gave to a representative of Novorossiya several days earlier, Donetsk’s news agency reported on Monday.

“I would like to thank Anna Netrebko and the local government for their assistance to our theater,” the Theatre’s head Evgeny Denisenko said, adding most money will be used for stage sets and the rest will be distributed among the actors.

Several days earlier, the opera diva a certificate for one million roubles for the Theater in Donetsk, and was immediately criticised by the Austrian media. Anna Netrebko has recently received Austrian citizenship. The media was irritated by pictures showing Netrebko next to a representative of self-proclaimed republic on the background of a Novorossiya’s flag. A representative of Austria’s Foreign Ministry said pictures of the kind could be used for propagandistic purposes.