Culture | Back Story

Ukraine’s most famous rock star is singing for victory

For Slava Vakarchuk, rock‘n’roll is warfare by other means

Apr 2nd 2022

A LITTLE GIRL sings “Let It Go” in a bomb shelter. A cellist plays alone in a ruined city. The chorus of the Odessa opera performs Verdi in the open air. The clips of Ukrainians making music in adversity are among the war’s most poignant: the melodies seem at once ephemeral and indomitable, ordinary and defiant. In one video, a stubbly man in a hoodie sings for an entranced crowd taking shelter in Kharkiv’s metro. Gradually the listeners join in, as if in a rite.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “The man in the arena”