The first video of the “Warriors’ Music” project appeared on the web on February 8 night and had almost 50,000 hits after less than a day online. It shows a man in military uniform, going by fictional callsign Martin, who plays the Anthem of Ukraine on a cello. Comments on social networks describe the video as touching and tear-inducing. The project’s creator is Ukrainian serviceman Oleksandr Tkachuk. He previously created patriotic song “Ukrop” and a video clip with it. According to Tkachuk, his new project has quite a few objectives.
“We decided that music should be put at the service of the army. My primary objective has been to raise the morale of our boys through the art. Secondly, we want to show people from all over the world that the Ukrainian soldiers are not murderers and do not conduct punitive operations, but are people of culture and high spiritual development. The project’s idea is that musical instruments are weapons too, and musicians are warriors. However, while weapons destroy everything, the art, on the contrary, builds up personality. Culture is a front of this war, and we should pay attention to it. Our project aims to raise the spirit of people, to show them that things are not as bad as they seem, and Ukraine will definitely become a united and prosperous country,” Tkachuk said in an interview with The Day.
The idea of the video project occurred to him in early February, and Tkachuk decided to put it into practice as soon as possible. “I was walking down the street and saw a man playing a cello. I liked his performance and invited him to the project. The musician was very modest and would not show his face, so we decided that he could play wearing a uniform and a balaclava. It became a part of the project’s identity then. The man in the video is not a soldier, but he understands what the anti-terrorist operation is. He gave concerts in the combat zone with the Khoreia Kozatska band. We would look for serving military musicians in the future, but this is not really essential. If a person is patriotic, plays some instrument better than anyone, but has never served, it will not be an obstacle,” the project’s creator told us.
Two new compositions will appear on the web soon, showing soldiers performing popular Ukrainian songs. One of them will be played on a bagpipe, and another on a piano. The creator wants to dedicate these videos to the anniversary of the Maidan massacre.
