Poets on the Frontline: Voices of the Donbass Art Scene | RT Documentary

Maidan and Ukrainian neo-Nazis rising to power, the persecution of Ukraine's Russian-speaking population and eight years of confrontation between two ideologies shaped a different, but equally important, front in the Donbass' struggle for independence. It was this front where poets and musicians have stood shoulder-to-shoulder.

The members of the Donbass art scene come from a variety of different backgrounds and have many stories to tell about how they ended up in Donbass. The poet Anna Dolgareva, for example, after losing her sweetheart, found that writing poems about the special operation was her way to carry on and find solace. She feels it's her duty to support those fighting on the frontline. “It's at the front where people are the most real, most awesome,” she says.

Singer Yulia Chcherina gave up her celebrity status to come to the place where she thought she was needed more, thereby becoming a true people’s singer. Journalists and writers who went to Donbass felt connected by writing poems and songs, and performing them in front of the soldiers was a way to lift their spirits.

See Donbass’ struggle for independence through the eyes of its poets and musicians and learn their bittersweet, tragic, and deeply inspirational stories in the documentary.