REGIN DE DONETSK.- With humorous songs and violin solos, a live concert near the front line in Ukraine gave the soldiers the opportunity to relax and clear your head of the war.
The intimate presentation, by fellow soldiers, was held at a rehabilitation center of the 23rd Ukrainian mechanized brigade in the eastern region of Donetsk.
The unit is deployed around the devastated industrial city of Avdiivka, which Russian forces have been trying to capture for almost two months.
“While I was listening I wasn’t thinking about the trenches,” said Oleksandr, a soldier recovering from sinusitis possibly caused by hypothermia.
“There are songs or rhythms that remind you of something, they bring back good memories,” the 31-year-old man, who did not reveal his last name for security reasons, told AFP.
The group of musicians performed magic with piano, violin, guitar and bandura, a traditional Ukrainian string instrument, before about twenty attendees.
The musicians make up the Cultural Force, an association that has performed more than 2,500 concerts for soldiers since the start of the war with Russia, in February 2022.
“We give the kids a chance to relax with music, songs, jokes,” said guitarist Roman Rameniev, 43.
“They forget where they are for a while and relax,” said Rameniev, who fought in the brigade before joining the association in June.
Founded by singer Mikolai Sierga, the association has 60 military and civilian artists who perform in medical facilities on the front.
Traumatized
At first, the soldiers listened indifferently, with vacant gazes and tired faces. When the violinist asked for song requests, the soldiers had a hard time remembering any.
“I forgot everything my parents sang when I was a kid,” one said. “We don’t remember anything, we are traumatized by the war,” added another.
It took a dirty song about their superiors to make them smile and relax.
But the war quickly returned. During a smoke break, the conversation turned again to life at the front.
“You never leave the trenches for damn drones,” one soldier said to another. “You shoot at them, you shoot one down, but damn, it always gets worse: the enemy detects you and bombs you. There’s nowhere to hide,” he added.
Afterwards, a deputy unit commander distributed medals and a priest gave a sermon. These formalities are not always part of the association’s concerts.
“We usually arrive, there are usually 10 people and we end up meeting everyone,” said guitarist Rameniev. “We talk about life, what they did before, what they do now, their dreams. It’s less of a concert than a conversation,” he added.
FUENTE: AFP
