{"id":253223,"date":"2025-03-06T16:23:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T16:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/during-the-war-in-ukraine-a-military-orchestra-has-a-key-task\/"},"modified":"2025-03-06T16:23:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T16:23:06","slug":"during-the-war-in-ukraine-a-military-orchestra-has-a-key-task","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/during-the-war-in-ukraine-a-military-orchestra-has-a-key-task\/","title":{"rendered":"During the War in Ukraine, a Military Orchestra Has a Key Task"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/14\/multimedia\/00ukraine-orchestra-06-kftp-promo\/00ukraine-orchestra-06-kftp-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"During the War in Ukraine, a Military Orchestra Has a Key Task\" title=\"During the War in Ukraine, a Military Orchestra Has a Key Task\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Three gunshots rang out as an honor guard fired into the air over the snow-covered cemetery. Soldiers lifted a Ukrainian flag from a coffin and handed it to family members. Then a trumpet, accompanied by a drum, bid farewell to the fallen soldier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After playing a Ukrainian version of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ausa.org\/history-taps\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">taps<\/a>, the two musicians from the military band walked slowly away, leaving the mourners to grieve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cUnfortunately, we cannot raise them from their graves, but we can play taps,\u201d Maj. Oleksandr Holub said of the daily visits that members of the band he conducts make to the cemetery, where hundreds of new graves have been dug for Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Over the three years since <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/news-event\/ukraine-russia\" title=\"\">Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion<\/a> began, Ukraine has experienced tremendous losses. In <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/read-full-transcript-ukrainian-president-volodymyr-zelenskyy-interview-rcna192389\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">an interview<\/a> published last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that at least 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war and that more than 350,000 had been wounded, figures that are widely seen as underestimates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the past year, the Russian Army has been on the offensive, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2022\/world\/europe\/ukraine-maps.html\" title=\"\">capturing Ukrainian territory<\/a> regularly and killing Ukrainian soldiers in increasing numbers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then comes the work of the band of the 101st Separate Guard Brigade of the General Staff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe treat every funeral like it\u2019s our most important concert, as we are saying farewell to those because of whom we are still here,\u201d said Pvt. Lev Remenev, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/@levremenev?si=Lm_LZe55JIsLJNGd\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a song writer<\/a> in civilian life who volunteered to fight in the army but instead wound up in the 101st Separate Guard band, where he plays the piano.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The mission of the band\u2019s 21 members is to show two sides of Ukraine\u2019s struggle three years into the war: acknowledging the unbearable toll and keeping up the spirits of those who press ahead with the fighting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They support soldiers and civilians by playing uplifting concerts in schools and at universities and rehabilitation centers. But the tune they play most frequently is a version of taps, to honor their fallen comrades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The musicians say it is often difficult to transition to the cheerful mood of a concert for schoolchildren or for soldiers in hospitals right after playing at a funeral.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf you did not manage to switch, and go on being grim, kids feel it,\u201d said Major Holub, 45, the conductor, who has been with the band for 18 years. \u201cKids are the easiest audience, and it is very easy to get them to have fun,\u201d he said. \u201cSoldiers are the hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But for the musicians, funerals are the hardest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They played a version of taps at funerals before the war, too, but mostly for retired soldiers who died of old age, Major Holub said. It became harder <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/13\/world\/europe\/ukraine-borders-pre-2014-map-war.html\" title=\"\">in 2014<\/a>, when Russia invaded <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/17\/world\/europe\/ukraine-war-donbas-putin.html\" title=\"\">the Donbas region<\/a> of eastern Ukraine and soldiers were killed in battle. It has become much harder since the full-scale invasion, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He recalls the funeral that affected him the most: \u201cI will always remember a young boy called Andriy, from our brigade,\u201d he said. \u201cHe wanted us to play at his wedding, and in summer 2023, we played at his wedding. And then a year later, in summer 2024, we played at his funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He added: \u201cI will say honestly that when I see mothers burying their sons, I have tears coming up \u2014 it is very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Private Remenev joined the army in 2022 and was sent to the Donbas region to fight. That July, he was assigned to join the band.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He still writes songs and his comrades have asked him to write an anthem to celebrate victory, he said. \u201cThis is a very high bar,\u201d Private Remenev said of the expectations for an anthem, adding that he had yet to produce one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe main thing is for the victory to actually come, and then I will write better normal songs,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople do not listen to anthems; people like normal songs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since joining the army, he has played more than 200 concerts in hospitals and schools and at other events. But like the others in the band, he has played at even more funerals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI always feel gratitude first of all, and then the grief, and then the pain that boys and girls are dying \u2014 that our nation is dying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He, like his colleagues, says it is hard to be in good spirits after the funerals. At concerts, they need to raise morale. \u201cWe are no different from the entire country in this,\u201d he said. \u201cAll people who live in war have to force themselves to switch to a false good mood. This ability comes with practice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sometimes, the military band members chat on the bus to the cemetery, giving one another moral support. Sometimes, they say, it is just too sad, and they drive in silence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Pvt. Oleksiy Prykhodko, 29, has been performing in the band for five years, but he only started playing regularly at funerals after the full-scale invasion in 2022. \u201cIt is possible to adapt to everything,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it is very hard to see the tears of relatives who lost their loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The first funeral he played at stuck in his memory. \u201cWe went to the cemetery, but there were no relatives,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was the very beginning of the war, and the mother of the fallen soldier had evacuated and could not make it back in time.\u201d She had fled and was a refugee. \u201cOne woman called her,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd she was saying goodbye to her dead son over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He added: \u201cI have no answers as to how to cope, but somehow I go on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Every morning, he goes out to a parade ground at the base in Kyiv, the capital, at 9 a.m. with his trumpet and plays a version of taps for soldiers at the base. Most days, he plays the music again at a funeral, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On one such day in December, there was a power cut from Russian missile attacks on power plants in the middle of a funeral, he said. The church went dark, and mourners were asked to switch on the flashlight on their phones to find the coffin inside the dark room and bid farewell to the fallen soldier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then Private Prykhodko played a version of taps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cRelatives never say anything to us \u2014 they do not think about us at that moment,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen their loved one dies, we are the last thing on their minds, but we still come and play taps,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a ritual, and it is important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Yurii Shyvala<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/06\/world\/europe\/ukraine-funeral-orchestra.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three gunshots rang out as an honor guard fired into the air over the snow-covered cemetery. Soldiers lifted a Ukrainian flag from a coffin and handed it to family members. Then a trumpet, accompanied by a drum, bid farewell to the fallen soldier. After playing a Ukrainian version of taps, the two musicians from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/14\/multimedia\/00ukraine-orchestra-06-kftp-promo\/00ukraine-orchestra-06-kftp-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[137233,190796,2733,2198,49516,39316,1130,3102],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253225,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253223\/revisions\/253225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}