Instead of a new song – a combat drone. Sleeping bags and night vision devices instead of new music videos. This is the current reality of Ukrainian singer and artist Anzhelika Rudnicka. For nine years now, she has been using her popularity to raise money for the Ukrainian army. At the same time, she regularly gives concerts for soldiers, also near the front.
The artist never had any illusions about Russia’s appetite in Ukraine. She encountered hybrid aggression already in the second half of the 90s, when she hosted the most popular hit program on television Territory A. This program gave a strong start to the revival of Ukrainian music after the collapse of the Soviet Union – it was an influential musical platform that not only Ukrainian, but also Russian musicians wanted to enter. “But in principle Territory A paid attention only to Ukrainian art – it was a gentle but effective Ukrainization of our society. They tried to bribe us, persuade us, but nothing happened. In the end, when we had reached the peak of the wave of popularity, the new owners of the TV channel simply shut us down, saying that no one is interested in Ukrainian music anymore,” Rudnicka recalls. (founded in 1992 ICTVwhich quickly became one of the most popular commercial televisions in Ukraine, was bought by investors from Russia in 2000 – ed.)
Ukrainian airwaves were increasingly dominated by Russian pop music, but Anzhelika continued to develop Ukrainian art. Territory A under her leadership became a separate organization focused on new cultural, charitable and media projects. When the Russians started a war in Crimea and Donbas in 2014, the artist was one of the most visible fighters on the cultural front, including in various volunteer projects.
“My first trip to the frontline was in the town of Shchastya in the Luhansk region,” says Anželika. “I even wrote somewhere that the path to happiness leads through war (the name of the city comes from the Ukrainian word happiness or “happiness” – ed.). My friends and I were carrying humanitarian aid and I was the only woman on the trip. I agreed to go there because my uncle Oleg Mihailov had died in the battles near Luhansk – I wanted to honor his memory and thank the guys who defended Ukraine.”
Angelica had never experienced anything like this before: dancing with soldiers with machine guns on their shoulders, crying during songs that even had to stop the concert, long, heartfelt conversations. But after this trip, Rudnicka could not stop any longer – every year she gave more than a hundred concerts for soldiers and residents near the front, and even celebrated her birthdays with them. Of course, she also performed at concerts and festivals in Ukrainian cities that were not affected by the war.
As 2022 approached, military, activist and volunteer circles were already talking about a possible full-scale Russian invasion, so February 24th was no surprise to Angelika. But she was shocked by the extent of the damage and Russian cynicism – Anzhelika had not expected such atrocities and shootings throughout the territory of Ukraine.
“During the first months of the war, I was unable to do anything. Then I got myself together and started weaving webs of camouflage for 7-8 hours every day to avoid reading the news. Then requests came from the army, and I plunged into volunteer work again – people trust me, donate from two hryvnias to 800 euros at a time, and that’s how we all dress and arm the guys on the front line together.”
The singer’s biggest and, as Anželika says, “scariest purchase” is a combat drone worth almost a million hryvnias (26 thousand euros). The money was collected for almost two months. A flag signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhnyi, helped to conclude this promotion – it fetched one hundred thousand hryvnias (2,600 euros) at the auction.
These days, Angela will buy two thermal imaging cameras for the soldiers defending Bahmut. Recently, she bought sleeping bags for 230 thousand hryvnias (5,900 euros).
During the war, Rudnicka went abroad only once – to the German city of Bonn. The sole purpose of the trip was to give a concert on Ukraine’s Independence Day and collect money for a truck that was then sent to soldiers in the Kherson region.
The hectic pace of the artist’s life has begun to affect her health – she has been hospitalized several times due to exhaustion. It’s not easy financially either, because paid concerts have been canceled due to the war. At the same time, Anželika reproached herself all the time for not doing enough: «It seems to me that we, civilians, are not doing anything heroic. We are the strong rear of a strong army, and we should not whine – we have to work hard to live. And live to win.”
* Series of articles Voices of the Ukrainian War available in open access thanks to AS Latvian Veneer for support. #TogetherForUkraine
