Marion Gauthier, edited by Mélanie Faure
modified to
5:35 p.m., May 05, 2022
Oleg Skripka is a Ukrainian rock star with his band VV. Star of the 90s, one of the first to sing in Ukrainian (and not in Russian). While the war is raging, he begins his tour, the “Thank You Music Tour”… in Toulouse. Such a reasoned choice to thank France and Europe for the help given to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The singer who became a figure of the resistance.
In Ukraine, Oleg Skripka is a star. In the 90s, he sang in the rock group Vopli Vidopliasso. Half-open shirts, electric guitars, sunglasses with opaque lenses: their look rivals those of American superstars. But today, Oleg Skripka no longer sings to make the crowds dance, but for a new commitment.
The man has been traveling the roads of Ukraine since the beginning of the war to sing in front of soldiers or in hospitals and started his “Thank You Music Tour”. And it is in France, in Toulouse, that he begins his tour. Its goal ? Thank France and Europe for their help given to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict with Russia – the next steps are Belgium and the Czech Republic. The Ukrainian has joined the resistance figures in the war that has been going on since February 24.
“Soldiers are brave, glory to Ukraine!” A few words and a short song recorded during the first days of the war. “It was really under the bombardments, in the basement. What I decided was to motivate people, and it worked! You have to fight in the field of culture too”, confided Oleg Skripka at Europe 1.
Sing for the military
Fighting with his guitar or his accordion in hospitals, subway corridors. Hoarsely voiced, Oleg looks like a veteran with his graying hair in a square chin under his military cap. “Every concert is very emotional, when the soldiers dance, they sing, they move,” says the 57-year-old Ukrainian. “They need moments of relaxation, to help the soul, to have strength, the song is very important for that!”
Between two concerts, he helps to barricade his neighborhood, transports drugs. Profits from his tour will be donated to the people of Ukraine.