“Ukraine’s Eurovision Participants’ Hometown Bombed by Russia During Performance in Liverpool”

In the city of Ternopil, in western Ukraine, several Russian missiles struck on Saturday evening. Two people were injured, the head of the regional government reports to the ‘BBC’. The mayor of Ternopil confirms that warehouses were damaged in the attack. “Firefighters have been working all night and are still working,” Mayor Nadal said. The fire was brought under control.

Ten minutes before their performance at the Liverpool Arena, pop duo Tvorchi wrote on Instagram that their home city was under attack. Afterwards they confirmed that: “Ternopil is the name of our home city, which was bombed by Russia while we sang on the Eurovision stage about our hearts of steel, intransigence and willpower.” They also called on Europe to unite against war: “Europe, unite against evil for the sake of peace!”

Air raid sirens were heard in much of Ukraine on Saturday night. The alarms went off simultaneously at the start of the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool.

Last year, the Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra won the prize with the song ‘Stefania’. According to the official rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, the event is organized each year by the country that won the previous year. However, because of the war with Russia, it would be too dangerous to hold the song festival in Ukraine. For that reason, the event was moved to the United Kingdom, which finished second last year.

A message appeared on the Ukrainian state-run app Dija about the live broadcast of the final. The message also included a message addressed to the Ukrainians on the run: “Don’t forget to vote for our guys when you are in Europe,” it read.

In Ukraine itself, the cultural channel of the public broadcaster broadcast the show.

Russia is not allowed to participate in Eurosong 2023. The country has also not yet made any official comment about the attack.