Ukraine's Independence Day: A charity concert was held in the German city of Hamm

Independence Day of Ukraine echoes in the heart with pain and joy at the same time since the beginning of the war in Donbas. Joy because of celebration of this day since 1991 and pain because of sad times in Ukrainian life after war started. Russia attacked our country back in 2014, and this indescribable pain has filled the soul of Ukrainians for almost a decade. In 2022, Russia struck another blow against Ukraine – it started a full-scale war on our territory, and now all Ukrainians have felt what Donbas felt for all 9 years. Unfortunately, the war is irreversible, but Ukrainians continue to fight for their freedom, and now Independence Day has a new face – even more important for each of us than it was a decade ago. Now in all corners of Ukraine, people know who is who and that we have only one enemy – Russia. The Ukrainian diaspora abroad continues to fight for a place under the sun for Ukrainian culture, using concerts and evenings of Ukrainian creativity. One of the concerts was held in the German city of Hamm on August 24. One of the guests was Demone Ritti, a Ukrainian musician from Odesa. The organizers of the concert were Alina Rusinova, Roman Melnyk, Jenny Wulf and Valery Twin. The stage was given to artists by Herr Werner Reumke. About preparing to concert and how was the concert read more on Drive Music Media.

On August 24, despite the rain, Ukrainians began to gather at Martin Luther Square in Hamm around 5 o'clock. They took the flags, their children and began to wait for the start of the concert dedicated to the Independence Day of Ukraine. A group of people began to help with the decoration of the stage – they inflated yellow and blue balloons, attached ribbons and prepared the equipment for work.

Children were the first to appear on stage. The young man performed the song "Let's sing a song for Ukraine", then a girl with a bandura and a little girl sang a song about Ukraine. After that, Valery Twin (ed. – one of the organisators of the concert) introduced Demone Ritti to everyone.

Demone Ritti, a popular Ukrainian musician from Odesa, was a participant of the concert. He sang a melanholic song "You fill your lungs with cigarretes". At the beginning of his performance, the guy congratulated everyone present on the Independence Day of Ukraine and started to sing. The singer shared his impressions of the performence with Drive Music Media:

"Valery Twin invited me to participate in the concert. Feelings during the performance were very warm and homely. So many Ukrainians gathered in the center of Hamm to listen to music, celebrate Independence Day and it's very cool. I found out that the concert would definitely take place in less than one day, so there was no time to prepare songs in Ukrainian. I made the decision to sing my English song "You fill your lungs with cigarettes" because it is melancholic and tender. Of course, next time I will prepare better and sing more songs, but I was also happy with the opportunity that I got. Now I'm preparing an album in rock style, in English, and of course I'm working on Ukrainian songs too. I plan to continue taking part in concerts, including charitable ones in support of Ukraine. I think it's important."

Many people said after the concert that they liked his performance. 

After performence of Demone Ritti is over, Alina Rusinova, the host of the concert, invited Valery Twin to the stage, who performed several songs. At some point, several women came out with flags and began to dance around the center of the square. The songs they danced to were upbeat. After a while, more and more people joined them. Atmosphere of the event was homely and so dear.

During the concert, people could donate money to plastic boxes. All the money that the organizers managed to raise will be transferred to help the Ukrainian military, who are undergoing rehabilitation in military hospitals.

Photo by Asya Radko