Famous Ukrainians singers touring Europe wanting to thank all those who helped their country Ukraine in war. Their tour is called “thank you” and started in Brussels.
Oleg and Nazar, on Sunday 8 May, one day after the concert they gave outside the European Commission building as part of the Europe Day events with a key message of solidarity with Ukraine spoke to the Athenian News Agency.
«It is a great honor for me to represent my country here in Europe and to say ‘thank you’ to European citizens.“, Said characteristically Nazar Houdin, who had the idea for these concerts. Ukrainians who came to Europe had access to medicine and food, according to Ukrainian rock singer Oleg Skripka.
“The term refugee sounded strange to me”
Nazar left his home in Kyiv with few things. He hoped he would be back in a few days.
«When I was a child and I saw on TV that refugees from Syria or refugees from Africa come to Europe, the term refugee sounded strange to me. I could not even imagine how a person feels when he becomes a refugee. When the war came to Ukraine I saw many of my friends, acquaintances, my family going to another country, leaving with a small bag and money. “They left their homes,” he said.
“I am from Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in western Ukraine, but I have been living in Kyiv for 20 years. When I left Kyiv I realized that I can not live without this city because this city made me who I am, made me UkrainianHe added.
“It was very difficult to leave the city. My house was where the fiercest fighting took place, near Irpin and Bhutsa. I am very lucky that I got in my car and left. But really, that day, the first day of the war, I said I would be back in three days, because Kyiv is my city. I only had my jacket, my pants and my sneakers and that was it. “After 30 hours on the road, inside the car, I realized that a real war was starting,” he explained.
“We are not brothers with the Russians”
“It was his friends who encouraged him to do what he knows best, to get the Ukrainian message across through music,” said Nazar. As a man, I am obliged to defend my country. My friends who are professional soldiers told me: Nazar, first of all you are a musician. We do not want to defend you in battle. “
«We want to defend our country. You have to do the best you can from where you are. From the moment you are a musician, you have to support our people with your music. I tell them: I have nowhere to play music in Ukraine. Our country is at war and we play dancing, happy music. There is no time and no place for joy. I helped my friends with the ammunition, with special shoes for the army. I raised money to buy it. I was thinking what else can I do. So I started working on the idea for this tour. “We have a big problem in Ukraine,” Nazar said.
“Most singers sing in Russian. It is not their fault. We grew up in the Soviet Union. Very few people in Europe and in the world know that Ukraine is a separate country, with a different history. Every time history was written by Russia and it did not tell us the truth, who we are. “Now that this war has started, we know that we are not brothers (with the Russians), we are not friends, because brothers do not kill their own brothers,” he said.
The task was not easy. He needed a certificate from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, but also contacts with the institutions of Brussels, since they had to get an exemption to leave the country, otherwise they were forced to stay to fight.
“Our tour was 99% doomed to failure, because we could not leave the country,” Nazar said.
“Without everyone’s help it would not be possible to resist”
Oleg tells us about his band, Vopli Vidopliassova or VV. It was created in the Soviet Union in 1986 and they were the first to start singing in Ukrainian, not only in their own country but abroad.
The tour is called “thank you”, because for us Ukrainians it is important to receive help and it is important to say thank you, because without the help of Europe and the whole world, psychological, economic, weapons, it would not be possible to we resist. Brussels is the center where decisions are made to help Ukraine and we have come to say thank you and ask for more. “Quick decision-making is important because so many people are being killed in Ukraine right now,” said Oleg, who did not believe Vladimir Putin would invade his country.
Oleg, Nazar and the rest of the band will soon continue to sing in Europe with their unique weapons, voice and music.
Source: News Beast
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