Andriy Khlyvnyuk.Photo: Boombox Family/Instagram
As the lead singer of top Ukrainian band Boombox, singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk regularly performs in front of thousands of fans in cities such as Donets, Kyiv and Odessa.
“Musicians are peacemakers,” Khlyvnyuk, 42, recently told theEuronewswebsite — but “now it’s not time for playing guitars. It’s time to take the rifles.”
“They bombed us,” he added then about the Russian attack on his country, which has claimed the lives of at least 198 civilians and forced him to leave his kids in the care of his grandmother so he says that he can help take the fight toVladimir Putinas a member of the growing resistance.
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Civilians across the country have been urged — or, in the case of most men, ordered — to take up arms for the cause; and many are doing so with gusto, according to reports.
Yet Khlyvnyuk hasn’t completely turned his back on music. On Monday, social media footagewas releasedof him performing a rousing song outside a golden-domed church alongside the words “a little motivation from the leader of the group ‘Boombox’ Andriy Khlyvnyuk.”
In the footage, which has already picked up more than 27,000 likes, Khlyvnyuk is shown wearing military fatigues and a New York Yankees baseball cap, with an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder.
“We do not need anything,” Khlyvniuk — who has had more than 100 million YouTube views of his music videos —toldRolling Stonein a story published Sunday when asked what support he believes Ukraine needs from the West.
“It’s them who need us. Both the West and Ukraine declare adherence to the same principles: equal rights for all, rule of law, right to choose, human rights above all, not the animal rule of the strongest, but morality and intellect,” Khlyvniuk said. “They need us as the shield to protect it all.”
Andriy Khlyvnyuk with fellow volunteer Miro Popovych.Boombox Family/Instagram
On Monday the situation in Ukraineescalated further, with Russian forces continuing their push to capture the capital city Kyiv in the face of determined Ukrainian opposition.
Dancing with the StarsproMaks Chmerkovskiy, 42, also shared an Instagram video explaining that he was nowpreparing to leavethe embattled city following a “reality check.”
“The streets are crazy. At one point I got arrested but again all good, promise,” he told his followers. “That was probably the least traumatizing moment in this whole thing as far as Ukraine is concerned, but for me, it was just a reality check.”
It is not immediately clear what led to Chmerkovskiy’s arrest. He posted later Monday that he managed to get onto a train headed for Poland, though details of his escape were also not available.
Andriy Khlyvnyuk and Boombox.Boombox Family/Instagram
The Russian central bank also hiked interest rates to 20 percent from 9.5 percent in an emergency measure to protect the ruble’s collapse.
Khlyvnyuk and his bandmates are just as determined to maintain maximum pressure on the ground too. “Attacks are going on all over Ukraine,” they posted on theBoombox Facebook pageon Friday. “We have witnessed the unprecedented courage of our soldiers and the unprecedented brutality of Russia.
“Do not intimidate yourself, do not trust the Russian and corrupt media, do not count on the help of someone from somewhere, do not leave the country if you can help in any way. Here the dragon will fall.”
source: people.com
