International Charity Concert-Marathon Save Ukraine – #StopWar scheduled

An International Charity Concert-Marathon aimed at supporting Ukraine named Save Ukraine – #StopWar will be hosted in Warsaw by TVP, a Polish TV channel, on Sunday 27 March at 1730 CET (1830 Kyiv time).

Video: https://youtu.be/1ivikOvGp3A.

Musicians, artists, civic activists, thought leaders, actors, athletes, volunteers from around the world will be supporting Ukraine during the 2-hour broadcasting, which will be rebroadcasted by the TV channels from about 20 countries in Europe and the world, as well as by streaming platforms and social networks. At the same time, funds to address humanitarian issues caused by the Russian military invasion of Ukraine will be raised before, during and after the broadcasting.  

In Ukraine, the telethon will be available on all Ukrainian TV channels and platforms that broadcast the United News Marathon such as 1+1, ICTV, STB, 2+2, Ukraine, Inter, Rada, UA: Pershyi, as well as TET, Novy, M1, NTN, K1, and Kyivstar TV, 1+1 Video, YouTV, MEGOGO, Oll.tv, Sweet.tv, Volia online TV platforms.

It will also be possible to watch the broadcasting on the 1+1 YouTube channel and on 1+1 International, ICTV Ukraine, Inter+, Ukraine24 and others for the viewers all over the world.

The hosts of the event include Ukraine’s Timur Miroshnychenko and Masha Efrosinina.

World-famous bands and artists such as Imagine Dragons, Nothing But Thieves, Fatboy Slim, Craig David, the Eurovision winners Salvador Sobral and Netta, and others are also among the invited guests to address a multimillion audience. The Ukrainian artists Dakha Brakha, Ruslana, THE HARDKISS, Jamala, Go_A, MONATIK, Alyona Alyona and others will participate in the telethon too. 

In addition several fan zones will be organised in cities globally where the concert will be screened.

“The entire media community of Ukraine is focused on several crucial tasks – to convey a message that Ukraine is a shield from Russia for the whole civilised world now, and that we require prompt support and closing of the sky. Ukraine is in huge need of help given the impending humanitarian crisis. Thus, we are talking about it out loud, we will keep talking about it in the future. [Talking] with the help of journalism, with the help of music, with the help of hundreds of thousands of people united all over the world,” – Yaroslav Pakholchuk, CEO at 1+1 media and co-owner at Atlas Festival says.

The Save Ukraine – #StopWar telethon is conducted by 1+1 media, the Atlas Festival team and with the support of the national mobile operator Kyivstar, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Policy. The initiators of the project idea are Atlas Festival and Kyivstar.

“Ukraine is doing everything possible to stop the war and bloodshed, to free the cities from the blockades, to start rebuilding our country. We would like to emphasise once again that there is no “special military operation” taking place in Ukraine while holding this marathon. The brutal groundless war is being waged in Ukraine, which Russia has started in a barbaric way. The civilised world must be proactive in protecting, supporting and helping Ukraine. It is not enough to watch the war of the Russians against the Ukrainians staying abroad. After all, our country is protecting the whole of Europe from Putin. We need a no-fly zone over Ukraine – closing of the sky, as well as weapon. It will save lives of many innocent people. Therefore, the messages #CloseTheSky and #NoFlyZoneUA should be heard by the world,” – Oleksandr Tkachenko, the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, comments. 

“Unleashing a brutal war against Ukraine, the enemy did not expect such a reaction from Ukraine and the world. First of all, the strength of Ukrainians while defending their country, and the scale of destructive sanctions imposed by the international community. We have achieved significant results thanks to the systematic work of Ukraine and the unwavering support from our partners – Russia has already suffered great economic losses and found itself in complete isolation. We are not stopping, we are moving forward. This marathon is another signal to the international community: it is Russia’s war against the whole world, and only together we can win,” – Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, claims.

“The war destroys our cities, but it will never destroy our will and desire to live in a free country. National resistance has united Ukrainians and the entire democratic world in a common goal – to expel all occupiers from our land and protect innocent people. Military, volunteers, doctors, civilians who host migrants in their homes or march with Ukrainian flags in temporarily occupied cities, our technicians who even work in danger to set reconnection – all of us are heroes. We need much stronger support from the Western partners and the entire civilised world to finally win. Kyivstar will call for this in all possible ways – by supporting such fundraising concerts, working with the media and with our partners globally,” –  Tetiana Lukynyuk, B2C Director at Kyivstar says. 

The graphic symbol of the telethon, which serves as a foundation for all its visual communication, is a sunflower created by Daniel Skrypnyk, a Ukrainian artist. The organisers of the event say that such collaboration can reach out to a larger audience as Daniel’s works are admired by people in many countries all over the world.

“Now, a sunflower symbolises the whole of Ukraine. I’ve included personal symbols and emotions into it. The sunflower is an observer of various events happening around. It is a sensor of emotions. It visualises everyone who has encountered side views. The sunflower has been growing in various aspects, and, right now, the sunflower has opened up in this most terrible and emotional situation. It asks to be noticed by the whole world being the one who is looking at Ukraine, feeling every Ukrainian. It asks for the light,” – the artist Daniel Skrypnyk describes.

The organisers emphasise the fact that fundraising is to be implemented with the use of the official accounts of the National Bank of Ukraine and Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine. The funds will go to meet food needs and to accommodate refugees and citizens who left their homes due to hostilities, to provide them with clothing and footwear, medicines and medical equipment; to provide the population with some basic necessities, one-time financial assistance, to meet other priority human needs, etc.

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