Belarusian band Port Mone performs for Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea
The band’s leader has described the blocked soldiers’ mood, roadblocks created by ‘the self-defence’ and ‘potato beetles’ with sniper rifles.
Minsk trio Port Mone has given a concert in a Ukrainian military unit blocked by Russian troops in Crimea. The concert photos have been uploaded to social networks.
Friends asked them to perform for Ukrainian soldiers, leader of Port Mone Alyaksei Varsoba told Euroradio. Few musicians decide to do it – they are scared.
"Everyone was tensed up. But they had made some decision in their minds and were calm,” Alyaksei Varsoba described the atmosphere in the military unit. “Everyone was very police and friendly. It was incredible to meet such cultured soldiers.”
Everything is okay with food supplies in that military unit, Alyaksei said: they are getting water, food and everything they need for normal life.
There were ‘self-defence’ roadblocks near the military unit.
"They did not ask us much, maybe because we were Belarusian musicians,” Varsoba recalls. “But they were interested. We performed in the military unit where snipers with rifles were walking around 500 metres away from us. There were roadblocks and people with submachine guns – they call them potato beetles.”
The Belarusian musicians gave a full-blown concert for the soldiers.
"We were astonished. We gave a full-fledged concert. The officers said: ‘Thank you, guys!’ and we said: ‘Thank you, guys!’ See? We did the same they could do with their submachine guns but we used our musical instruments for it,” Alyaksei said.
Port Mone’s tour in Ukraine will continue. The band will come back to Minsk one of these days.
Photo: social networks