Kanye West’s planned Russian comeback has hit a wall before the rapper even reaches St. Petersburg. Gazprom Arena has suddenly disowned the October concerts it helped announce and promote, saying it never signed a deal to host them – leaving tens of thousands of ticket buyers in limbo and fueling speculation of Kremlin pressure. West, who now performs as Ye, was due to perform at the stadium on Oct. 10 and 11 as part of a Russian concert organized by Say Agency.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The arena can accommodate around 80,000 spectators. Tickets went on sale through the website yerussia2026.ru, with prices ranging from 9,000 rubles ($112) to 160,000 rubles ($1,980) for the most expensive seats. The concert was officially announced on Aug. 17, when Gazprom Arena itself promoted the two shows on its Telegram channel, calling Ye “the most influential musical artist of our time.” But on Aug. 24, the venue abruptly said there was no rental agreement in place. “There is no such agreement. Accordingly, the concert cannot take place at our venue,” Gazprom Arena said. Promoter says concert is still on Say Agency disputes the venue’s statement and says the concerts have not been canceled. Anna Subcheva, the agency’s director, told Fontanka that Gazprom Arena had sent the agency a draft rental agreement and that the parties were expected to sign it by Aug. 27. “We were supposed to sign it by Aug. 27,” she said, adding that she did not understand why the stadium had publicly announced that there was no agreement.