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Violin becomes 'weapon of resistance' in Ukraine shelters

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Rana Moussaoui, Agence France-Presse

<p>PARIS, France - From her shelter in Ukraine&#x27;s second city Kharkiv, Vera Lytovchenko has become a social media sensation with her violin performances that help her forget the war, if only for a few minutes. </p><p>Her renditions of Vivaldi and Ukrainian melodies have triggered an avalanche of messages of support from around the world and she has used the attention to launch a fundraiser.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m not a doctor, a soldier, or a politician. I just play the violin,&quot; Lytovchenko told AFP over WhatsApp. </p><p>&quot;I don&#x27;t want to feel helpless. I want to help my friends and music teachers who have lost their homes, their jobs, their instruments,&quot; she added.</p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/100009435931855/videos/706325340392087" data-width="auto"> </div><p>A soloist with the Kharkiv Opera Orchestra, the 39-year-old said she was inspired by one of her students who played violin for people taking refuge in a subway.</p><p>She has been living in the basement with 11 others, including children and elderly, since the city near the Russian border came under heavy bombardment. </p><p>&quot;I consider myself very privileged because I&#x27;m in a cellar where we have heating, electricity, food. There are people who are not so lucky,&quot; she said.</p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href=" https://www.facebook.com/londonsymphonyorchestra/videos/728324734820514" data-width="auto"> </div><p>Helping his country through music is also the goal of Illia Bondarenko, 20, who filmed himself in a shelter playing a Ukrainian folk song, &quot;Verbovaya Doschechka&quot;, on the violin. </p><p>Through a video montage, he was joined by 94 violinists from 70 countries, including the entire violin section of the Munich Chamber Orchestra, as well as nine of his compatriots. </p><div><strong>&#x27;MUSIC HAS POWER&#x27;</strong></div><p>The clip went viral after being shared by the London Symphony Orchestra with over 3.6 million views on Facebook alone -- part of a &quot;Violinists for Ukraine&quot; campaign raising money for victims of the war. </p><p>&quot;Music has power and Ukrainian musicians are now soldiers on their battlefield,&quot; said Bondarenko, who took refuge with his grandmother in the Lviv region of western Ukraine but remains worried about his parents stranded in Zhytomyr, closer to Kyiv. </p><p>Bondarenko, who was studying composition at the Kyiv Conservatory, sees his instrument as a &quot;weapon of resistance&quot;.</p><p>&quot;I can do more with my music than with weapons,&quot; he said.</p><p>The London Symphony Orchestra&#x27;s Kerenza Peacock, who organized the project, said some violinists had apologized for not being able to participate because they were going to the front. </p><p>&quot;There are many musicians who have taken up arms to defend our country,&quot; confirmed Mariya Klymenko, 23, who left the Kyiv region for Lviv. </p><p>She posted a video on Instagram playing a Ukrainian lullaby with her colleague, guitarist Yuri Bikbaev -- but by video link because he was stuck back in the capital. </p><p>&quot;He stayed in Kyiv and sealed the windows of his apartment to protect himself. We wanted to get back to the bond that we had before the war,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;I chose this lullaby because my mother sang it to me to calm me down when I was a baby. And I want people who watch the video to feel peace in their hearts.&quot;</p><p>ram/er/ah/rlp</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rqV1y-FHzRE?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

From her shelter in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, Vera Lytovchenko has become a social media sensation with her violin performances that help her forget the war, if only for a few minutes. 

Violin becomes 'weapon of resistance' in Ukraine shelters

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Violin becomes 'weapon of resistance' in Ukraine shelters

Rana Moussaoui,

Agence France-Presse

Published Mar 18, 2022 08:07 AM PHT

Read More:

ukraine

ukraine crisis

Illia Bondarenko

violin

Kharkiv Opera Orchestra

russia

war

Kyiv Conservatory

kyiv

London Symphony Orchestra

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