The Killers apologize after Brandon Flowers invites Russian to join him on stage

The Killers have apologised after inviting a Russian onto the stage during one of their concerts.

Russia as a nation has been widely criticised internationally since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Ukraine mounting a fierce and concerted resistance to invaders with support from Western nations.

Ukraine is not the only country in a prologued dispute with Russia, with southern neighbour Georgia also having a checkered past with Russia.

And it was Georgia where The Killers were performing.

There is a long history of invasion and occupation which continues to directly impact the country as Russia flexes its imperialistic muscles in Ukraine. That considered, it's not difficult to see why audience members in the Georgian capital Tbilisi were less than impressed when The Killers invited a Russian to share the stage.

The band had been playing a set when they invited an audience member up, as they often do.

However, the atmosphere soured after singer Brandon Flowers revealed the guest's nationality.

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He said: "We don't know the etiquette of this land but this guy's a Russian. You OK with a Russian coming up here?"

Things only got worse after they finished performing 'For Reasons Unknown' and Flowers made a well-intentioned but poorly-judged attempt at damage control.

He said: "You can't recognise if someone's your brother? He's not your brother? We all separate on the borders of our countries? … Am I not your brother, being from America?"

He added: "I don't want it to turn ugly. And I see you as my brothers and my sisters."

Georgian journalist Mariam Nikuradze reported that some audience members walked out after the song, and also noted that the band did not say goodbye to the audience at the end of their set.

The band has since released a statement on their social media apologizing for the incident.

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It read: "Good people of Georgia, it was never our intention to offend anyone! We have a longstanding tradition of inviting people to play drums and it seemed from the stage that the initial response from the crowd indicated that they were okay with tonight's audience participation member coming onstage with us.

"We recognise that a comment, meant to suggest that all of the Killers' audience and fans are 'brothers and sisters' could be misconstrued. We did not mean to upset anyone and we apologise. We stand with you and hope to return soon."

Since invading Georgia in 2008, Russia has occupied around 20 percent of Georgian territory, which it continues to hold.

Georgia maintains that its dispute is with the Russian state and not Russian people. However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has once again raised tension in the country, and many Russians have left Georgia for the safety of Russia.

Russia and Georgia have a long and unpleasant history, with Georgia being occupied by the Red Army in 1921 and only regaining full independence with the collapse of the USSR some 70 years later in 1991.