"Then missiles fly at us": Bahroma band leader speaks emotionally about Ukrainians who "don't care"

Roman Bakharev, the leader of the popular Ukrainian band Bahroma, who was born in the Urals but moved to his mother's homeland, Donetsk Oblast, at the age of 5, has shamed fans of Russian content among Ukrainians. The musician doesn't understand how compatriots can listen to Russian songs in the midst of a terrorist war, sponsoring the enemy army.

Although the media space has long promoted the narrative that music cannot be outside of politics, and that every time you listen to Russian songs on streaming services, you contribute a penny to the enemy's coffers, not all Ukrainians refuse to consume content from the terrorist country. Bakharev spoke emotionally about this topic in an interview with blogger Bohdan Bespalov as part of his cooperation with OBOZ.UA.

Bahroma used to sing songs in Russian and collaborate with Russian artists. However, now the frontman refuses to use the language of the aggressor both in public and in everyday life. At the same time, he states that he continues to hear Russian around him. The singer is sympathetic to this, but he categorically rejects the narratives of "what's the difference" and "music has nothing to do with it."

"I hear a lot of Russian. I hear it in the store. It's still there. But I am definitely against consuming Russian-language content, Russian content. It's a mess, really. I recently went to TikTok, just to use this tool to popularize my music. And I see that on TikTok, Ukrainians continue to make videos to Russian songs. And I have a lot of questions for these people. There is still no understanding that Russian music is being monetized. Russian labels, Russian artists pay taxes, just like we do. But their treasury is used to make weapons and missiles, which are then fired at us," the musician explained emotionally.

The singer of the hit song "At the Depths" believes that it is very important to talk about this to artists who know from their own experience where and what the money from the consumption of their work goes to.

"I want artists to talk about this. Because artists understand what royalties are and what they are for. And they have to tell their listeners that this is not the way to do things," Roman summarized.

The full interview with the singer will be released on Monday, December 11, on Bohdan Bespalov's YouTube channel.

As OBOZ.UA wrote earlier, a video has appeared online that clearly explains how Russian music helps Vladimir Putin and his army kill Ukrainians and destroy Ukrainian cities and villages.

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