(Tbilisi) American rock band The Killers apologized on Wednesday after inviting a Russian fan on stage at a concert in Georgia, prompting boos from the crowd in the Caucasus country with complex relations with Moscow.

“We did not intend to upset anyone and we apologize for that”, posted on Facebook the formation which claims to be “on the side” of the inhabitants of this country which had opposed Russia during a short war in 2008.

In a video posted on social media, frontman Brandon Flowers is seen inviting a fan on stage on Tuesday night during a concert at a venue on the Black Sea coast.

“This guy is Russian. Are you okay with a Russian joining us? asks Brandon Flowers, prompting boos from the crowd.

“Can’t you see that’s one of your brothers? “, he then asks, before being indignant at “everyone at home as soon as we talk about borders”, some spectators leaving the place.

The organizers of the Black Sea Arena, where the concert took place, also apologized. “We understand the emotion of our viewers,” they said.

“The performer’s behavior on stage is not the position of the Black Sea Arena,” they added.

Georgian rock band LOUDspeakers, who performed as the opening act for the same concert, said they were “disappointed” on social media after the incident as Russia was “an enemy and an occupier”.

The group The Killers, active for more than twenty years, made a name for themselves with the synth rock hit Mr. Brightside, released in 2003.

Georgia, a former Soviet republic, has welcomed tens of thousands of Russian exiles since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, sometimes causing tension in a country which aspires to join the EU and NATO and which has lost in the 1990s the control of two pro-Russian separatist territories, where Russian troops are deployed.