Above her head, shells were flying: it became known why Oksana Bilozir was granted the status of a participant in hostilities and four "For Courage" medals

The renowned Ukrainian singer, former Minister of Culture and Arts of Ukraine, Oksana Bilozir, is, among other things, a veteran of the Afghanistan conflict. Furthermore, the artist has been awarded four medals for bravery. She mentioned that she had visited the country twice during the Soviet era, spending a total of more than six months there.

Bilozir recalls that during her time in Afghanistan, her life was repeatedly in mortal danger: shells flew overhead, and buses with artists were shelled and even blown up. The performer spoke about this in an interview with Slava Demin for his YouTube channel of the same name.

"During the Soviet era, I was in Afghanistan twice. A total of six months, if you add it all up. We went through very difficult and brutal tests there. War is war. We were in places where explosions and killings occurred, where it was dangerous, where shells were flying overhead," Bilozir said.

Despite her status as a veteran, the singer did not serve a military role in Afghanistan; she went there as an artist along with other Ukrainian colleagues, including VIA Vatra.

"We sang for our soldiers. While the soldiers could stay in Afghanistan for two or three years in one province, we, the artists, traveled all over Afghanistan. We drove armored personnel carriers, flew in helicopters, so it was all dangerous. We were shelled, and the bus was blown up. I have four medals for bravery," the singer said.

It should be added that in an October 2019 interview with Volyn 24, Bilozir mentioned that her participation in the Afghan war proved useful when, in 2014, she began rescuing Ukrainian soldiers from separatist captivity in eastern Ukraine. According to the singer, during a time when trust was lacking, her words served as a guarantee of compliance with agreements during the exchange of prisoners and hostages. Those on the other side who had experience in Afghanistan trusted her more than the military command.

As previously reported by OBOZ.UA, Oksana Bilozir expressed her pride in her husband Roman Nedzelsky and maintained a friendly relationship with him despite their divorce in December 2022. According to her, this decision was intentional and expected, and the couple had not lived together for about 10 years. All the details are in the article.

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