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Estonian and Ukrainian Musicians To Perform at Support Concert “For Ukraine”

This Sunday, 16 March at 12, a support concert entitled “For Ukraine” will be held at Freedom Square (Vabaduse Väljak) in Tallinn. With this event, Estonian and Ukrainian musicians, students, and non-governmental organisations will express their support to a free and dignified Ukrainian nation.

The concert “For Ukraine”, which will begin at 12 on Freedom Square, will feature performances by the following artists: Svjata Vatra with the Police and Border Guard Orchestra, Tõnis Mägi, Siiri Sisask, Sofia Rubina, Lauri Saatpalu and Dagö, Margus Põldsepp, Johansonid, Maarja Sarv, Ukrainian folklore group Žurba, song group Vidlunnja, and the Mixed Choir of the European Capital of Culture. Statements will be made by Vira Konõk (Congress of Ukrainians in Estonia), Sigrid Västra and Sergei Metlev (Federation of Estonian Students Unions), and Mall Hellam (Open Estonia Foundation). Bogdan Lutjuk, the director of the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, will lead the commemoration ceremony to honor the fallen during the events on Maidan; the Heavenly One Hundred (“Небесна Сотня”), as they are called by the people. “With our concert we would like to pay tribute to the fallen and injured in the Maidan as well as to those people all over the world who sympathise with the Ukrainian people,” said one of the organisers of the concert, the singer of the Svjata Vatra, Ruslan Trochynskyi. The aim of the concert is to draw the attention to the need to protect human rights, peace and democratic values. “All those who love freedom cannot just observe the events in Ukraine in silence,” declared Mall Hellam, the director of the Open Estonia Foundation, who herself took part in the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004. “Now is the time and the opportunity to bring to an end the revolution that started 10 years ago, to get rid of the Soviet legacy and turn finally towards Europe.”The representatives of the civil society will also call on Putin’s regime to abandon the policy of aggression and enable the peaceful and democratic development of a united Ukraine.

The concert, which is meant  for the entire family, will take place at Freedom Square regardless of weather conditions. The organisers recommend to bring along, if possible, Estonian and Ukrainian flags. Students are asked to wear student hats. The support concert will be organised by the Congress of Ukrainians in Estonia, the Crossroad of Cultures association, the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, the Estonian Institute of Human Rights, the Open Estonia Foundation, the Federation of Estonian Students Unions, the Open Republic youth association and the Estonian Centre of Eastern Partnership / Estonian School of Diplomacy. Similar concerts to support Ukraine will be organised by Ukrainian musicians in several European cities during this week.The Ukrainian Cultural Centre has also started to collect donations to provide medical aid to the victims of unrest in Ukraine. Donations will be collected during the concert as well as through the webpage: www.supportukraine.eeShare your participation at the concert on Facebook. 

The concert will be broadcast live by Estonian Public Broadcasting.