Join hundreds marking 3 years of sacrifice at Ukraine Forever!

Kvity Ukraini will perform at the special anniversary concert in Edinburgh on February 24.

Ukraine Forever! is a special one-off performance that brings together Ukrainian and Scottish performers to pay respect to those who have lost their lives or suffered terrible injuries since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

It will also, I hope, be a joyful occasion, a chance to hear some amazing music from artistes like Elzara Batalove, who is a billed as a “Crimean singing sensation and Ukrainian TV star”, and Scottish folk music icons, the Old Blind Dogs. I am particularly looking forward to Solo Way, a Glasgow-based all-female Ukrainian choir, and readings by top Scottish writers James Robertson and Jen Stout. Her book, Night Train to Odesa, is a wonderful read. She writes very powerfully about the “solidarity, collective effort and a powerful sense of common purpose” that she found everywhere in her extensive travels in Ukraine. A feeling that I also picked up during my week-long visit to the country last November.

But the whole evening will be tinged by sadness and very real fear for Ukraine’s future. President Trump has barely been in office a month, but he has already ripped up the USA’s policy of support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, following a 90-minute phone call with President Putin. Trump has even gone so far as to call Ukraine’s brave leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, a “dictator” and accused him of corruption. He has threatened to cut financial aid to Ukraine and in an astonishing move, Ukraine was not invited to the so-called peace talks held recently between the USA and Russia in Saudi Arabia.

Thankfully, Prime Minister Keir Stramer, with the backing of First Minister John Swinney, remains steadfast in his support for the Ukrainian people. Starmer has reassured Zelensky of the UK’s commitment to Ukraine’s war effort, including billions in military equipment and humanitarian aid. And the overwhelming majority of the British public say they want Ukraine to win and care very much about the outcome of the war.

We live in dangerous times. Donald Trump appears to have given Putin his seal of approval for his unlawful invasion of Ukraine. If Ukraine falls, or is forced to surrender because America has deserted it, who knows where Putin might strike next? The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are particularly vulnerable. The next few weeks and months are going to be very scary for Europe and the UK. We may have left the European Union, but we are still a key part of the continent. What happens in Kyiv, or Tallin or Riga affects Edinburgh and London.

But Tuesday night is a time for fun, laughter, good music and inspiring words. There will also be tears. In the words of President Zelensky: “Ukraine is fighting for our rights, for our freedoms, for our lives, and now we are fighting for our survival.” The people of Ukraine are also fighting for our rights, our freedom and ultimately our survival, because if Putin prevails, aided and abetted by Donald Trump, who knows what the next decade will bring.

There are still tickets on sale for Ukraine Forever! Go to the Usher Hall website – usherhall.co.uk