30 Ukrainian thought leaders thanked the Slovak people for ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Open letter)
23 April, 2024
Despite the war and pandemic in recent years, Ukraine has been visited by many world stars, not politicians, choosing it not only as a tourist destination, but as a place for creative self-realization and important messages to the world.
So, apparently, the cult British band Hurts has already screened 2 of their songs in Ukraine in recent years – first, in 2015, Wings, and then, in 2017, Beautiful Ones. Another British artist Years & Years shot a video for the song Shine in Pushcha-Vodytsya near Kyiv in 2018.
And this is not an exhaustive list, because in recent years in Ukraine shot a dozen clips of current foreign artists, advertising for Apple Watch 3, Italian brand Diesel, French Lacoste and British Lee Cooper.
Only during 2021 Ukraine was visited by the grand Ed Sheeran, the genius Shop Penn and the charming May Musk, as well as the charismatic Andriy Makarevich. This is an important side view.
Ed Sheeran and night shooting
British pop singer Ed Sheeran staged a new music video in Kyiv in November.
The shooting lasted for three days near the modernist building of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of the Kyiv National University at the Exhibition Center.
The artist expressed gratitude to the capital of Ukraine for the warm welcome, calling Kyiv a beautiful city. In addition, he noted the whole of Ukraine, calling it wonderful.
“Thank you for accepting us, Kyiv. Three night shootings in a beautiful city. Ukraine is wonderful,” Sheeran wrote on his page.
Sean Penn and the OOS area
Also in November, American film director and actor Sean Penn visited Ukraine for the first time. He talked to the Ukrainian military in one of the settlements of the Azov region.
According to the OOS headquarters, Sean Penn, in collaboration with a Ukrainian production team, plans to make a documentary about Ukraine. The main purpose of the tape is to tell the world about the events that are currently taking place in Ukraine. However, the actor himself has not yet announced his plans to the general public.
The director and the military visited Shirokino, where there were fierce fighting and a still tense situation. He visited battle posts, accompanied by trenches and tasted borscht in the military canteen.
May Musk and Ukrainian brands
Ilona Mask’s mother May Musk also visited Ukraine in November. She flew to Kyiv at the invitation of the founder of the international payment system LEO Alyona Shevtsova.
The 73-year-old Musk presented her book in Ukraine, gave several interviews and tried on clothes of Ukrainian brands – in particular Vorozhbyt & Zemskova and the COAT by Katya Silchenko.
This is not May Musk’s first visit to Ukraine, she visited here a few years ago and said that she liked the trip.
In an interview, she said she had met many Ukrainian women.
“They were happy, stylish, smart, confident,” Musk described the Ukrainian woman.
She also urged Ukrainian women not to keep silent about violence and not to be silent about the abuse they face.
Catherine Vynnyk and her Ukrainian roots
Not only November, but the whole of 2021 was marked by landmark visits to Ukraine.
For example, in August, Hollywood actress and director with Ukrainian roots Katherine Vynnyk, known for her roles as Lagerta in the series “Vikings” and Yvonne in the comedy “The Odd Fantasies of Charlie Swan III” visited Ukraine.
According to her, Katherine has long dreamed of getting to Ukraine and her dream has finally come true. She was born into a Ukrainian family in Canada – her father and mother are Ukrainian.
“I’m very proud to have such roots,” says Kateryna.
In Ukraine, the Vynnytsky family (this is the real name of the star) celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of their parents and the 30th anniversary of independence.
Andriy Makarevych in the Western Ukraine
In May, Andriy Makarevych, the leader of the Time Machine group, toured several cities in western Ukraine. After the trip, he spoke warmly about the local audience.
We apologize for this set of stereotypes, but in this case it is a powerful weapon against those primitive, brutal, but unfortunately effective stereotypes imposed by Russian propaganda, and the headline of this news might sound satirical: a Russian musician visited western Ukraine and with nothing happened to him, although this part of Ukraine is described as the epicenter of fascism and Nazism in Russian narratives.
According to the musician, he and the jazz ensemble Yo5 visited the western regions of Ukraine – in Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Rivne, Chernivtsi and Kamianets-Podilskyi. Rocker said he was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of these cities, the beauty of architecture and infrastructure.
“I must admit, I expected to see some wilderness – small towns of 200,000 people. And saw the wonderful (and beautifully restored) architecture, stylish restaurants, cleanliness. And very good viewers, “he wrote in his publication.
