ZSU: this is the acronym of the Ukrainian armed forces, which has been fighting for a month against the Russian offensive, but it is also the title of the last song by the rap group Tsina Ritmu, where Sasha sings.
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“When the war broke out, many artists found themselves on the front lines, in the ranks of the Ukrainian army or in those of the territorial defence, while others remained on the cultural front. This is our case and we are working on songs that talk about these events, talk about what is happening. And that’s important to us.”, explains the rapper, wearing a bucket hat and a black hoodie.
“Our soldiers listen to our songs before going into battle and it gives them even more energy.”
Sasha, singer of the group Tsina Ritmuat franceinfo
He prefers not to translate the lyrics of these songs: too many insults and swear words, he says, “They are imbued with our outrage at this aggression.”
This anger, everyone shares it. Everyone expresses it in their own way. Viktor Prodanchuk is a sculptor by day, and enlisted in the territorial defense brigades by night. In the basement of his studio filled with works imbued with the violence that is tearing his country apart, he is currently looking for a technique to represent the bodies torn apart by bullets.
To denounce the horror of war, again and again. In one corner, a mannequin: “It will symbolize Ukraine, he explains. It’s a tall woman who crushes the enemy. She’s going to be adorned with flowers and children’s toys. It will be a rebirth at the end of all this.”
A month after the outbreak of war, the Beton group launched with the blessing of the Clash, Kyiv Calling“the call from kyiv”: a signal to the world and to NATO. “We are short of planessay the words, we are resisting but we will not do it alone.”
Other messages are more direct. In posters, a woman thrusts the barrel of her gun into the mouth of a kneeling Putin. The Harmata group warns the Russian president that its end is near. “All empiressays the chorus, end up disappearing, dying. And yours will disappear too.” So many tubes that resonate even on the front lines.
Ukraine: artists get involved – Report by Marie-Pierre Vérot and Arthur Gerbault
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