They were being shot: Boombox leader Khlyvniuk explained to the stars who are "out of politics" why the war concerns everyone

A well-known Ukrainian musician and, since February 24, 2022, a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andrii Khlyvniuk , recalled a tragic page in the history of Ukraine associated with Ukrainian kobzars. The Soviet government tried to destroy blind singers as an "incorrigible nationalist element" by any means, mostly bloodthirsty, because they were symbols of national culture and keepers of ethnic traditions.

Of course, in the USSR, any manifestations of true Ukrainianness were severely punished. That's how kobzars and their instruments were brutally destroyed by the dictators of the time. Using this apt example, Khlyvniuk explained to some of his colleagues who believe that music and creativity should be "beyond politics" why the war concerns everyone. The leader of the Boombox band posted the message on his InstaStories.

Recalling how the leaders Lenin and Stalin shot kobzars, tried to ban them at the "legal" level, and their instruments-kobzas, banduras, and lyres-were simply burned, replaced by "common" balalaikas and harmonicas, Khlyvniuk clearly demonstrated that culture has never been outside of politics. Moreover, it was at the cultural level that the Soviet government primarily destroyed Ukrainians, trying to "kill" our identity.

This process is still going on today. What has changed is that the USSR has collapsed. However, Russia hasn't changed at all, and a new leader, Volodymyr Putin, has replaced Lenin and Stalin.

"To the so-called artists who are out of politics and those who cannot bear arms because of their creative nature, who want to change the world with their art, learn history. In 1918, a maniac with the call sign Lenin issued an order banning begging and ordered that kobzars not be taken hostage. By the decision of the troika, they were to be shot," Khlyvniuk wrote, showing his selfie from the trench.

For decades, kobzars have been persecuted and killed, and their memory has been distorted. Fortunately, these tragic pages of our history are now becoming better known, making it clear that Russia's war against Ukraine has been going on for centuries, not two or nine years.

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