MUSICIAN Bozhena Yakymenko cries every time her mother flies back to Ukraine from Scotland because she doesn’t know if she will ever see her again.
But while Bozhena wants the devastating conflict in her country to end, she is insistent there can be no peace without Ukraine’s involvement in the talks.
On Tuesday, Bozhena will lead her choir of Ukrainian women who will express their sorrow and love for their country in a fundraising concert in Edinburgh, where she says audiences will hear through their music both their sadness at their exile and their hope of peace.
“The way our hearts and souls are broken you will feel that,” says Bozhena, who is shocked the US and Russian presidents are meeting for so-called peace talks without Ukraine.
“We can’t trust Putin and if right now the world will not stop Trump, it is going to be a world war,” she predicts. “Everyone needs to speak out.
“There should be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, it is not possible. We need to question what they are doing and what they are saying.”
Bozhena is furious US president Donald Trump has accused Ukraine of starting the conflict.
“It is victim blaming,” she says.
“He also said our president is a dictator but we have been electing presidents every five years. Unlike Russia, we have our fair elections and if Russia stops the war, Ukraine would stop defending.”
She believes Russia should be made to pay reparations for its invasions of Ukraine.
“If a person on the street does something criminal they are punished,” she points out. “Russia has never been punished for all the wars it has started. There should be reparations. We can’t let them off because it will never end.”
While Bozhena is grateful for the welcome and support she has received in Scotland, she grieves for the life she has lost.
“We will never be the same and the world will never be the same,” she says. “Right now we are rootless. We have already started to live lives here but we don’t know what to do for the future. We can’t go back to Ukraine because of the safety issue and they cannot give me my life back.”
Tomorrow is the third anniversary of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s current bombardment of Ukraine. At the time, Bozhena was living in Kyiv but had already experienced Russian aggression when she lived near the Russian border in the north east of Ukraine.
“In 2014, when Russia invaded us for first time, I was there, so actually I have already been involved in this war,” says Bozhena, who plays the bandura, the Ukrainian folk instrument. “It was the first time I saw the bombs.”
In 2022, her mother was still living near the Russian border so Bozhena tried to bring her back to Kyiv but Russian forces began bombing the routes out of the city and they were trapped until Ukrainian soldiers managed to push the front line back.
“Now when I hear a plane, my first thought is where to hide,” says Bozhena, who once dreamed of a career as a flight attendant.
Traumatised, she chose to leave Ukraine and eventually made it to Scotland where she felt welcome.
However, her mother opted to stay in Ukraine.
“Like a lot of Ukrainians, she is so dedicated to our land,” Bozhena says. “We have our roots and our culture and our traditions. For me, even though I left Ukraine in 2022, my heart is still there. My mother is in Ukraine and I can see her only once or twice in a year.
“Last time, when my mother went to her flight, I cried so badly because every time when we are saying goodbye, I really don’t know if I will see her again. Every single night, she can hear the Russian hits. Planes are going so low that every time you are playing this roulette. You never know what is going to happen. It is so hard.”
Bozhena says she cries not just for herself and her mother but for all the others like them.
“Our lives will never be the same,” she says. “They have changed forever.”
Despite her sorrow, Bozhena has managed to build a life in Scotland. When she first arrived, she was housed in the cruise ship MS Ambition in Glasgow along with other Ukrainian refugees. True to the ship’s name, she decided to form a women’s choir to improve morale and this was so successful that it has kept going, performing at fundraising concerts for Ukraine.
“It is our way to keep hope alive and music has no language so even if you don’t understand Ukrainian, you will feel everything in our song,” she says. “You will feel love, you will feel sad, you will cry.
“And I think Scotland and Ukraine have a lot in common. Everyone is supportive of us. They do understand and they share our feelings with us.”
Ukraine Forever! is at the Usher Hall on Tuesday evening and will feature both Scots and Ukrainians, including award-winning novelist James Robertson, poet Len Pennie, Old Blind Dogs and Firelight Trio, along with a host of Ukrainian musicians, dancers and singers and video messages from Ukraine.
“James Robertson has written a brand-new and very moving story to read at the concert and will appear alongside other wonderful artists,” said producer Matthew Zajac. He added that while the show aims to raise funds for humanitarian support for Ukraine, the ticket price has been kept low.
“It is equally important for us to produce this large-scale public event to bring together many hundreds of displaced Ukrainians along with Scots in an expression of solidarity and love to highlight Ukraine’s continuing struggle,” said Zajac.
