The head of the Krasny Yar ensemble told how the artists performed for the Northern Military District soldiers in dugouts

Krasnoyarsk artists went with concerts to the Donetsk People's Republic, where they gave performances right in dugouts near the front line. The artistic director of the Krasny Yar ensemble, Vladimir Budilin, told gornovosti.ru the details.

The tour took place in May of this year. The four-person team also included actress of the Krasnoyarsk Drama Theater Natalya Goryacheva (she has been organizing such trips since 2022), Honored Artist of the Region Alexander Belopashintsev and volunteer Valentina Romanova. A few weeks before the departure, the program was tested in Krasnoyarsk hospitals.

In Donetsk, the front line was only 20 kilometers away. To protect the artists’ safety, they decided to hold concerts not on the street, but underground. The repertoire was made up of proven Soviet compositions: “Katyusha” was sung in chorus, and “Song of a Distant Homeland” by Joseph Kobzon was listened to in complete silence. The fighters listened to the songs frozen for the first 10-15 minutes, but then they thawed out and began to sing along and applaud.

The artists also brought humanitarian aid: sweets, children's letters and memory cards with songs by Krasnoyarsk performers as part of the “OWN Flash Drive” project. Budilin himself plans to go to Donbass again.

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