Kanye West arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit, in New York on May 7, 2012. (AP)

US rapper Kanye West is currently visiting Moscow, according to Russian media reports on Sunday citing a prominent Russian producer.

Amid the war in Ukraine, which prompted extensive sanctions from the US and Europe along with travel restrictions to Russia, most Western artists have refrained from performing there.

Kanye West, known for his controversial political statements in the US, has previously expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kanye West is in Moscow. Apparently visiting #Russia becomes in Western culture a sign of independence of mind and having own power over the imposed dominance of mainstream media and political elites. pic.twitter.com/fMomYaGD5Y
— Alexander Abramenko (@alex_abramenko) June 30, 2024

"Kanye West is already in Moscow! This is great news, he is staying in the heart of the capital," the state TASS news agency quoted producer Yana Rudkovskaya as saying on social media.

Her announcement followed rumors last month suggesting that West would perform a concert in Moscow. However, Luzhniki Stadium, where the concert was rumored to take place, informed state media that they do not have any information regarding possible concerts by the renowned rapper.

According to a representative of Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy speaking to RT, West has actually visited Moscow to attend her 40th birthday party. Rubchinskiy, who took over as Head of Design for Kanye's Yeezy brand in December 2023, celebrated his birthday on Saturday.

Reports from the Telegram channel SHOT indicated that West and Rubchinskiy planned to stroll through central Moscow before heading to a private venue, restricted to authorized personnel only. The designer was identified among those seen with Kanye in videos circulating online.

Shortly after news broke of Kanye's visit, online advertisements appeared offering tickets to what purported to be his concert at Luzhniki Stadium on July 5 and 6. These ads, demanding prices ranging from 3,600 rubles ($42) to 12,000 rubles ($140), were swiftly removed by platforms like Avito following media reports.

Avito told Al Mayadeen English, "This is a prank, the ad was blocked for trying to sell a non-existent product. There are now 200 million ads on the platform, and there were only five similar attempts."