Seven Ukrainian soldiers — all esteemed professional musicians before their country’s war with Russia — are concluding a two-month-long “Tour of Gratitude” across the United States with concerts in the Los Angeles area on Monday and Tuesday and in Northern California from Thursday through Sunday.
Consisting of two bandura players, an opera singer, a violinist, a pianist, a country singer and a poet, these artists are all members of Ukraine’s Cultural Forces, founded by Mykolai Sierga during the first year of the war. On Sunday, The Times spoke by phone with Sierga and country singer Oleksandr Bulich, who goes by the stage name Sasha Boole, as speculation mounted over what Donald Trump’s victory in the recent presidential election would mean for Ukraine. Below are excerpts from that conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Can you tell us about the Cultural Forces and its mission?
Mykolai Sierga: The Cultural Forces is like the American USO [United Service Organizations]. The difference is that the USO is made up mostly of volunteers, and we are all soldiers who joined the army as fighters. During the war, our group of over 80 artists, poets, musicians and puppeteers has given more than 4,500 concerts on the front lines.
We came on this tour to say thank you, and to share our culture with the American people. We are people who don’t just speak about defending our country. We put our life on that. We have a few on our team who were wounded. For example, our violinist, Olha Rukavishnikova, lost her eye on the front line. Singer Yurii Ivaskevych lost his leg.
You are quite famous in Ukraine. What was your life like before the war?
Sierga: I was a celebrity TV host, musician, comedian and actor. In 2007 I won the biggest comedy competition in Russia. Actually, I became popular first in Russia, then in Ukraine. I had a popular Ukrainian TV show about traveling. And then I studied psychology. For the last two years before the war, I was a psychotherapist.
That’s why we educate our artists to have a psychological background, so we can be effective. They learn about behavior and conflict, about working with the audience and group dynamics. This is useful on the front lines because it’s been almost three years of war, and people are exhausted. To find the right words to give them, you need a high level of professionalism.
What do you miss most about home while you are here?
Sierga: It’s not about missing in the classical sense of this word. Because we understand that right now our country is bleeding, and what we are doing here is an important mission. But we want to be closer to our families and to our brothers in arms, because every day we’re losing them. Two weeks ago, I lost my friend. He died on the front line. And it was very painful for me that I’m here and I can’t go to the funeral.
One important part of your group’s mission is to boost the morale of your fellow soldiers, even through difficult losses.
Sierga: Yes, because culture prevents rust on the soul. Maybe it will not heal the soul completely in this sense, but it will not let rust go deeper in the soul.
Can you tell us about a particularly memorable front line performance?
Sierga: I will not forget any of those performances, because you see exhausted, tired people in front of you. I will not forget their faces. It is like they are in 2-D. Then you begin to speak with them, they begin to smile, somebody begins crying, and it is like they become 3-D. You see their soul wake up inside their eyes.
It’s very painful when you get a lot of messages on social media from the wives and daughters of the soldiers telling you that their father or husband was proud to meet you when you performed, and that he died two days ago. It’s difficult for me to speak about this right now because of tears.
Performing here in the U.S. must be a very different experience. What memories will stay with you from your concerts here, and what will you take back to Ukraine from this tour?
Sasha Boole: For more than 10 years, I was doing country and western folk music in Ukraine, trying to combine that with the Ukrainian soul and find new formulas. I heard things like, “It doesn’t make sense, it is not going to work.” And now, I performed for American people and met some American musicians and we played together. They fall in love with Ukrainian music and we find so many things in common between our cultures. So I’m really inspired and sure that I am on the right [path]. Also, I will bring home some souvenirs. We bought boots and Stetson hats [in Texas] and have become like Ukrainian cowboys.
Sierga: What I didn’t expect is the support of the American people is so huge. It’s not just the Ukrainian war. It’s the war for good in the world, for freedom and democracy. [This support] is giving us wind in our kites, like we are hawks and it is giving us the breeze [to fly]. I want to say thank you to your readers for that. We have already won this war because Ukraine exists. For Putin, the main goal is to destroy Ukraine. It’s not just about the land. It’s about destroying our culture.
Two performers in your group play the bandura. Can you tell us about that instrument?
Sierga: The bandura is important because it is the symbol of the Ukrainian soul. That’s why it has 62 strings. With this amount of strings, it is possible to share the depth of the Ukrainian soul. In 1934, the Soviet Union government invited bandura players to a festival. Then they killed everybody and burned all the instruments. So right now, in the United States, to see people on their feet applauding, that means it is not possible to destroy the Ukrainian soul.
Many Americans are tense and emotional because of the election. What was it like for you to be here during this time?
Sierga: We always tell people that they are the bosses of this country, not politicians, because it is a democracy. Yes, it will be different politics upstairs now, but the people are the decision-makers who create the present and build the future.
What message do you want to send?
Boole: When you see footage from the front lines, mostly it’s bad things. When you hear news about the war, always remember that behind those news stories, there are real people who dream, play music and compose songs, who want to live normal lives and create something. They don’t want to fight. Actually, they were forced to fight because Russians decided to come and kill us.
Sierga: We hear a lot of Americans telling us that they’re thinking about Ukraine and praying for us. We want you to know that in Ukraine, a lot of people are also thinking about the United States and wishing all the best to this country. Because right now you’re also going through some struggles and rough times. We pray for you. We understand how difficult it is when you stop trusting your neighbor because of something from the outside designed to seed conflict. Everything that you have here in the United States, you have thanks to each other and thanks to your differences. If everyone were the same, you would have communism. Your difference is your beauty.
