A Russian singer performing Dominican merengue in Moscow is attracting attention far beyond Russia, giving one of the Caribbean’s most recognizable musical genres an unexpected international spotlight.
Regina Roskina, a singer associated with Dominican musician Yanco Santana and his Moscow-based Orquesta EL DOMI, has emerged as a distinctive voice for merengue in Russia. Her performances of Dominican music, including repertoire associated with merengue star Miriam Cruz, have recently drawn attention.
© Orquesta EL DOMIOn September 17, the Dominican program Al Medio Día con Mariotti & Compañía included the performance among its trending entertainment stories, describing the moment as a Russian singer surprising audiences by singing merengue by Miriam Cruz.
The viral moment is part of a much bigger story. Dominican merengue and bachata have been steadily finding an audience in Moscow, with Roskina and Orquesta EL DOMI helping bring the sounds of the Dominican Republic to Russian stages.
Who is Russian merengue singer Regina Roskina?
Roskina has been identified in recent reports as the first Russian woman to establish herself as a merengue performer in the country.
Her introduction to the genre was not simply a matter of learning the lyrics to a few Spanish-language songs.
© Orquesta El DOMIAccording to a January 2026 report on a concert by Orquesta EL DOMI in Moscow, the Armenian-Russian singer spent four months rehearsing, studying Spanish, and training in Caribbean musical style before making her official debut with the orchestra. During that performance, she sang music associated with another Dominican merengue icon, Milly Quezada, including the Christmas classic “Volvió Juanita.”
HOLA! spoke with Yanco Santana who described Roskina as "the first female merengue singer in Russia." Reports also suggest she had become known as the “Reina del Merengue en Rusia,” or “Queen of Merengue in Russia.” That title has continued to follow her.
© Yanco SantanaMiriam Cruz’s merengue reaches a new audience in Russia
The connection to Miriam Cruz makes Roskina’s latest attention particularly significant for Dominican music fans.
Cruz is one of the best-known female voices in Dominican merengue. Born in Santo Domingo, she became the lead singer of the influential all-female group Las Chicas del Can before launching her own musical project in 1992.
© ERIKA SANTELICES/AFP via Getty ImagesHer solo-era repertoire includes songs such as “Te Propongo,” written by Juan Luis Guerra, and “La Loba,” written by Ramón Orlando. Cruz has previously described the latter as a defining record in her career. “'La Loba' was the song that put me on the map. Thanks to this track people knew I was alive," Cruz said in comments published by Acento.
Decades later, her music finding an interpreter in Moscow illustrates just how far Dominican merengue continues to travel.
Dominican music is gaining ground in Moscow
Roskina’s performances are not happening in isolation. At the center of the growing Dominican music scene in Moscow is Yanco Santana, a musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist from Higüey, Dominican Republic, who moved to Russia in 2021. Santana founded "Un dominicano en Moscow," y Orquesta EL DOMI in Moscow on February 10, 2023, as a project dedicated to promoting Dominican and Caribbean music.
The orchestra brings together musicians of several nationalities while performing merengue, bachata, mambo and other Caribbean styles.
© Orquesta EL DOMISantana has made his mission clear. “I want anyone who listens to merengue or bachata anywhere in the world to be able to recognize that behind these rhythms there is a culture, a history, and a people,” he said in September. “Bringing our music to Russia is also bringing a little piece of the Dominican Republic with me.”
That mission recently reached a considerably larger Russian audience. Santana and Orquesta EL DOMI appeared on Доброе утро (Good Morning) on Russia’s Channel One, where they presented Dominican music on national television. Roskina joined the musicians for the appearance, alongside Dominican dancers Elvinson Veloz and Indira Hernández. “This moment represents much more than a television appearance,” Santana said following the performance. “It is the result of a dream: that Dominican music can travel around the world.”
Merengue in Moscow has been growing for years
Dominican music’s presence in Russia has developed through concerts, cultural events and collaborations rather than through one viral performance.
In March 2025, EL DOMI celebrated its second anniversary with a Moscow concert featuring bachata, merengue and mambo. The event even incorporated the Russian balalaika into a performance, creating a musical connection between Russian and Dominican traditions.
© Orquesta EL DOMIAnother major cultural moment came when Dominican composer and musician Ramón Orlando presented symphonic merengue with musicians from Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory in March 2025. The concert was organized as part of events commemorating 80 years of diplomatic relations between the Dominican Republic and Russia.
The performances show that Dominican music in Moscow is developing on several levels, from dance-oriented merengue and bachata concerts to symphonic arrangements and national television appearances.
© Orquesta EL DOMIHer connection with EL DOMI has also moved beyond live covers. In April 2026, Yanco Santana released “Una noche contigo” featuring Regina Roskina, giving the singer a recorded collaboration connected directly to the Moscow-based Dominican music project.
For Santana, that kind of cultural crossover appears to be central to the project. After an earlier Moscow concert, he described the orchestra’s progress as something bigger than his individual career.
© Orquesta EL DOMINow, a Russian singer performing Miriam Cruz’s merengue is adding another chapter to that story.
From Santo Domingo to Moscow, the tambora and güira are traveling remarkably well.
