Ukrainian rock band to perform in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

As part of its “Help for Ukraine” tour, the famous Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy will take the stage at Maximum UNIQ Open Air in Istanbul on June 11, with revenues from the concert to be used for helping children affected by the war, health institutions and the defenders of Ukraine.

Founded in 1994 in Lviv, Okean Elzy gave its first concerts in the Lviv Opera Theater in 1995. The band has released 11 albums and more than 20 singles.

Okean Elzy has one of the highest popularity ratings not only in Ukraine but also the love of many fans from Russia and other countries, which is quite phenomenal for a Ukrainian group, considering that all the lyrics are written in the Ukrainian language.

With its musical drive, combination of Ukrainian poetry, Slavic melodies and powerful European sound, Okean Elzy breaks down linguistic barriers and conquers listeners irrespective of geography. Their previous most wide-scale concert tour in 2006 was a massive success playing to audiences in North America, Western Europe, and Russia.

In 2010 Okean Elzy went on another worldwide tour supporting the “Dolce Vita” album.

The band gave its first aid concert on April 24 last year in the Kiev metro, which became a haven for thousands of people during Russia’s missile attacks on Kiev.

More than 22 countries participated in the telethon broadcast of the concert called “I will be good,” and with the aid of 9 million Grivna collected during the broadcast, medical equipment was purchased for hospitals in Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia, where injured children were treated.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the leader of the band, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, participated in the territorial defense of the Lviv Region. He continues to inspire and boost the morale of soldiers and the Ukrainian people by singing songs at train stations and on the streets.