Under fire, Ukrainian musicians became military reporters and army fundraisers.
Written byTimes Magazine
Last weekend, Olga Karolova fled her home in Chernihiv, Ukraine, with her daughter, her dog, and everything she could fit in two bags. "I was driving like crazy," he said. I saw a bomb, and all I could think about in my head was, "Out with the baby."
He drove for hours and finally crossed the border into Poland, where a concert was booked that night. One of Ukraine's top techno DJs, Korolova, dropped her setlist and played only other Ukrainian artists. "I cried on stage," he told news News. "I played and cried. It was the toughest series of my life, but I knew I had to do something."
Korova donates her fees to the Ukrainian army and to charities that help people displaced by the conflict. The following night, she held a separate fundraiser on her YouTube channel. His Instagram page, once home to glamorous travel and nightclub photos, now posts updates from Ukraine and footage from the Russian invasion.
"I am shocked that the Russian people do not see the truth," he said. "We only realized it then. My fans from Russia texted me and said, "That's not true. It is a lie. All your posts are lies: "You don't want to see them."
The Queen is not alone. In the face of war, the vibrant and thriving world of Ukrainian music has become something of an unofficial news channel, documenting conflicts for viewers who may not listen to traditional news channels. "Now everyone is reaching their audience through social media," says folk singer Christina Soloviy.
"We spread information about events in the cities, and we tried to contact the Russians to go to rallies and tell them that this is a war of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
On YouTube, hundreds of Ukrainian artists have replaced their video thumbnails with photos of the country's flag with the words: "While watching this video, Ukrainians are dying because of the Russian attack. Could you stop it?
Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the vocalist of Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy, posts hourly updates about the conflict. In one video, he visits a wounded soldier in a hospital; elsewhere, he wore a bulletproof vest and made speeches in the streets of Kharkiv; elsewhere, he delivered food and fuel to Kyiv by car.
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