Women Fight For Ukraine will host a night of song, craft beer and cultural food at the Bianca Road Brewery on Saturday, May 13.
Trustee Dariya Silko, 28, whose family fled their Donetsk home back in 2014 following Russia’s invasion of that region, said: “The war has been happening for over a year and we were thinking about how we can keep Ukraine in the minds of people.
“Because of the way human psychology works, you get tired of the same news. But the war is ongoing and we still need to raise money for Ukraine to help us win.”
The Eurovision Charity Party is the organisation’s first charitable event and will show the contest on a huge projected screen. They group says the money will be sent directly to male relatives on the front line, many of whom need protective gear like armour and helmets.
Ukraine won last year’s Eurovision Song Contest but unlike previous winners, cannot host this year’s event due to the fighting.
Instead, the UK, last year’s runner-up, will hold the event. Dariya said this made Eurovision the “perfect” event to kickstart a series of fundraisers.
Women Fight for Ukraine came about because of Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That month hundreds of Ukrainians clad in their national colours of yellow and blue gathered outside Downing Street in anti-war protests.
Ukrainian women met at this demonstration, and others, and decided to set up the group. While many of them had only recently fled Ukraine, Dariya has lived in the UK for twelve years after studying at Bath University.
But like so many of her compatriots, her family has been dislocated by war, after being forced to flee Donetsk during Russia’s 2014 invasion.
“This is the second time the war has hit my family,” Dariya explained. “Back in 2014, while I was at university, the Russians took over my hometown.”
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“Initially we were in denial… then a bomb landed right in front of our building and my dad put everyone in the car, including the dog and cat… to say it was traumatic is an understatement.”
She continued: “My grandfather fought in the Second World War with the Russians. He couldn’t believe they’d attacked his hometown.”
She said his and her grandmother’s mental states deteriorated because of the war and both have now passed away. Last summer, her family home was bombed.
Dariya says the group’s aim is to fight what she calls the “information war”, keeping the war alive in the UK consciousness through demos, events and performances.
“The women we have are very strong and are trying to stay positive,” said Dariya. “While they can’t fight physically… it’s a positive way of fighting the information war.” It doesn’t always have to be violence and aggression,” she added
The event is taking place at the Bianca Road Brewery, 83-84 Enid St, SE16, from 6pm to 12am, on Saturday, May 13. Entry is free. Get your tickets here.
