MFA OPEN AIR. DEDICATED TO UKRAINIAN PRISONERS IN RUSSIA.

Photo: Oleksandr Pilyuhin, Artmanagement

On June 19, 2015 a classical music open air concert “Night Serenades” dedicated to Ukrainian prisoners illegally detained by the Russian Federation took place in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The concert was attended by the relatives of Ukrainian prisoners, foreign diplomats including 15 Ambassadors, Ukrainian politicians, human rights activists, public figures and journalists, as well as more than a thousand citizens and guests of Kyiv.

The honorary speakers of the event were Yuriy Yatsenko, who was recently released from Russian prison, Vira Savchenko, the sister of arrested Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, artistic director of the ensemble “Kyiv Soloists” Oles Yasko and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin.

Yuriy Yatsenko shared his dreadful experience, describing the tortures that the Federal Security Service of Russia had applied to force him to testify that he had been sent to Russia as a spy. Yatsenko called on the audience to bring the actions of Russian authorities to the attention of international community.


Music of Peter Tchaikovsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonin Dvorak, Edvard Grieg, Felix Mendelssohn, Edward Elgar, Fritz Kreisler, Johann Strauss, and Astor Piazzolla were performed by the National Chamber Ensemble “Kyiv Soloists”.
Every piece of music was dedicated to one of the Ukrainian prisoners illegaly detained in the Russian Federation: Nadiya Savchenko, Oleg Sentsov, Olexander Kolchenko, Oleksiy Cherniy, Hennadiy Afanasyev, Mykola Karpiuk, Serhiy Lytvynov, Valentyn Vyhivskyi, Stanislav Klyv, and many others.

The world cinema community, including Pedro Almodóvar, Andrzej Wajda, Wim Wenders, Krzysztof Zanussi, and others have come to his defense. He is one of those Crimeans who has peacefully opposed the Russian intervention, and for that he was arrested, tortured, illegally taken to Russia and forcibly deprived of his Ukrainian citizenship. He has already spent nearly 400 days in Russian prison. And he faces up to another 20 years in prison.

Mukola Karpyuk was kidnapped at the Russian-Ukrainian border in March 2014. A memberof the UNSO and one of the leaders of the Right Sector. No one has seen him for more than 15 months since his abduction, not even the Ukrainian consul or his lawyer, not to mention his relatives.

Nadiya Savchenko became one of the symbols of Russia’s war against Ukraine. A Ukrainian pilot and volunteer soldier, captured by pro-Russian militants, who soon found herself in a Moscow jail. Her pre-trial detention reached a full year. The whole world has stood up in her support, but it looks like this hostage is especially valuable for Kremlin. The court proceedings in her case have garnered worldwide publicity. Her words and notes behind the bars have been echoed on every continent: “I was born a Ukrainian and as a Ukrainian I shall die.”

As a part of the concert the audience supported Ukrainian prisoners illegally detained in Russia with a flash mob of white roses.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin:

“Russia illegally keeps Ukrainians not because of its strength, but because of its weakness”.

Partners of the event were: Ukrainian Human Rights Group EuromaidanSOS, Amnesty International, Українська правда. Життя, Ukraine Today, EuromaidanPress, Kyiv Post, hromadske.tv, Artmanagement, Zinteco Design & Engeneering, LoraShen, Camellia.