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Ukraine: Music as a refuge from war
Ukrainian opera singer Sergiy Anastasyev, who had to flee the war in his home country, now lives in Bonn, Germany. He talked to DW about how singing has become therapy for him, and how he longs to return to Ukraine.
Sergiy Anastasyev, a 65-year-old Ukrainian refugee, is on his way to another performance. He is an opera singer and has taken his songs to several European countries.
But the war in Ukraine forced him to move to the city of Bonn, Germany, in early March. Since then, he has been counting the number of possible performances left before he returns home: Kyiv.
On this particular day, he is preparing to perform with the choir of the University of Bonn. He joined the group to avoid thinking about the war and do what he is most passionate about — singing.
They have already had their last rehearsal, and there's only one hour left until the show starts.
Many friends lost in the war
Anastasyev cast a calm figure. He no longer gets nervous, at least not when the subject is music.
"The war is not new, and I have lost many friends in the last years," Anastasyev told DW.
"Music has been my refuge, it makes me relaxed and gives me hope. It takes away my bad thoughts, even though my mind and heart are always with those who are fighting on the front line."
This is not the first time conflict forced Anastasyev to flee. In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and began backing pro-Kremlin separatists in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, he had to leave his hometown of Donetsk.
History repeating itself
At the time, in addition to being a musician, Anastasyev took up a political post and was therefore at even greater risk. So he relocated to Kyiv in a bid to start over. However, on February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine to capture the capital. For Anastasyev, it was history repeating itself.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree barring men aged between 18-60 from leaving and urged them to pick up arms and defend the nation.
As a male over 60 years, Anastasyev was allowed to leave Ukraine. "Although I wanted to, I could no longer serve in the war because of my age."
Escaping from Russian bombs
He first came alone with the hope of later bringing his family.
"For the first ten days, my family and I were still in Kyiv. But on the tenth day, our house was bombed three times," Anastasyev recalled, adding that the attacks prompted him to take his wife and two children to Vinnytsia, southwest of Kyiv, where they still are today.
Since the war started, Anastasyev has been unable to sing the song "Brothers' grave" — a song about soldiers who go to war and don't come back.
Russian artist Vladimir Vysotsky, whom Anastasyev always admired, wrote the song. Sergiy says that when he hears this song, he sheds tears as memories of friends killed in the war flood his mind.
Life as a refugee in Germany
"The adaptation to Germany was easy," the veteran artiste said, noting that he had already come here several times to sing.
"Because of the war there is a big Ukrainian community here in Bonn. There are even integration events where we sing Ukrainian songs. That makes me feel a little bit more at home."
Since leaving Ukraine, Anastasyev's family hasn't heard him sing for four months.
The concert took place, and the audience gave a standing ovation. However, for Anastasyev, it is one performance less until her return to Ukraine.
"I'm going back home soon, whether the war ends or not."
