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Agence France-Presse

Although war is still raging, 30-year-old Nadia Kukla is managing a punk-rock band’s tour around Ukraine. Her biggest challenge is the daily air raid sirens that sound across the country to warn of Russian bombing.
“If the air raid alert lasts longer than an hour, we have to cancel and reschedule,” Kukla said.
The band, Susidy Sterpliat (The Neighbours Will Endure), is on a 12-stop tour. One of the gigs was in the western city of Vinnytsia, in a pub just opposite the site of a terrible Russian strike on July 14, 2022.
Missiles targeted an army concert hall, killing 27 people, including three children, and wounding 202 others. The building still lies in ruins.

In a war-ravaged country, the power of cultural resistance is striking. Performances continue and many artists – those who have not been mobilised – collect money for the army.
In the dressing room just before the concert, drummer Oleksandr Pavlov, 28, and guitarist Artur Zubarev, 27, were in excellent spirits.
The duo, formed in 2017 in the southern city of Mykolaiv, want to make “joyful” music whose lyrics “don’t necessarily make sense” but “give you strength”, Pavlov said.
Since the Russian invasion in 2022, culture in unoccupied parts of Ukraine has been undergoing a “renaissance”, according to many figures in the sector.
The situation is very stressful … It helps to detach oneself from it and return to the time before the war
Nazar, 19, on the power of Susidy Sterpliat’s concert
Audiences have turned away from Russian and Russian-language output and there is a thirst for Ukrainian content, which has boosted musicians’ incomes on streaming platforms.
The duo, who used to sing in Russian before switching to Ukrainian, say they now have more fans. While they refuse to compare themselves to soldiers risking their lives, the two rockers still consider their work part of the resistance against Russian aggression.
“There’s a struggle to take over our land but also our heads,” Zubarev said.
That night, the guitarist said he hoped to “set the room on fire”. Around 260 people turned up for the show, many of them teenagers.

The warm-up act, Krash Test, a trio from the northeastern Sumy region which has been particularly devastated by Russian bombs, immediately got the audience moshing.
They performed a punk rhyme about a “neo-Nazi girl” – “a typical Ukrainian girl” who “drinks the blood of Russian babies”.
The mockery was aimed at Kremlin rhetoric, which compares the Ukrainian government to a Nazi state. Several times, the crowd could be heard shouting “F*** the neighbours!” – both an insult and a celebration of the headline act.
Then Susidy Sterpliat came on for their set of fury, shouting and joy. On stage, Zubarev wore a see-through black mesh shirt. Pavlov was shirtless, his face covered in sequins.

At one point, an item of underwear flew onto the stage.
They played an ode to drunkenness, a nostalgic ballad about the summer of 2021 and a track about addiction that had the whole audience singing along. At the end of the set, there was an auction, the proceeds of which will go to the doctors of the Azov Brigade.
Formed in 2014 by a group of ultranationalists, the unit has acquired a heroic reputation in Ukraine since the invasion, taking part in some of the toughest battles.
The first auction item was concert tickets and the right to get drunk with Susidy Sterpliat. Two spectators engaged in a bidding war. In the end, they both won the privilege – one for 15,000 hryvnia (around US$370), the other for 11,000 hryvnia – a lot of money in Ukraine.

Finally, Pavlov put his underwear up for auction. With his back to the audience, he took it off – although he had a second pair underneath. The item, bought by Anastasia, 17, raised a modest €67 (US$70).
During the concert, the teenager said she felt the “best possible emotions”.
Nazar, 19, left the bar wearing red underwear on his head. He said the night’s music had helped him forget “the madness”.
“The situation is very stressful and a lot of people close to me are fighting,” he said. “It helps to detach oneself from it and return to the time before the war.”


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Ukrainian punk-rock band Susidy Sterpliat perform in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Photo: AFP

Punk-rock duo Susidy Sterpliat perform a concert in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. An auction was held after the set to raise money for Ukrainian forces. Photo: AFP

The punk rock band Susidy Sterpliat‘s manager Nadia Kukla checks tickets before a concert in a pub in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Photo: AFP

Zubarev said he hoped Susidy Sterpliat’s performance would “set the room on fire”. Photo: AFP

Susidy Sterpliat consider their work part of the resistance against Russian aggression. Photo: AFP

Susidy Sterpliat’s set was followed by an auction to raise money for doctors of the Azov Brigade. Auction items included concert tickets and underwear. Photo: AFP

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Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

In Ukraine, loud music and flying underwear are all part of punk duo Susidy Sterpliat’s concerts that show the power of cultural resistance


In Ukraine, loud music and flying underwear are all part of punk duo Susidy Sterpliat’s concerts that show the power of cultural resistance.


Ukraine war

Ukraine