Russian missiles hit home town of Ukrainian Eurovision act Tvorchi

Our Foreign Staff

Sun, 14 May 2023 at 12:01 am BST

Ukraine came under fire from Russian missiles on Saturday as the Eurovision Song Contest took place, including the university home town of the Ukrainian act Tvorchi.

Two people were injured in the attack in Ternopil, western Ukraine, the chief of the regional state administration, Volodymyr Trush, confirmed.

Ternopil Mayor Serhiy Nadal said a non-residential building in the city caught fire as a result of a hit to the industrial zone.

Tvorchi posted on Instagram about the reports of their home city being attacked just 10 minutes before performing on stage at Liverpool Arena.

Tvorchi afterwards said: “Ternopil is the name of our hometown, which was bombed by Russia while we sang on the Eurovision stage about our steel hearts, indomitability and will.

“This is a message for all cities of Ukraine that are shelled every day. Kharkiv, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Uman, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and all others.

“Europe, unite against evil for the sake of peace.”

The British Ambassador to Ukraine, Dame Melinda Simmons, also confirmed the strike: “Meanwhile, this Eurovision night Ukraine is under another Russian missile attack,” she tweeted.

“Reminder that the reason why (Ukraine) could not host this event is because (Russia) continues to invade and the people of (Ukraine) live in continuing danger.”

Praising Ukraine’s entrants in the song contest, Dame Melinda added: “Tvorchi (definitely) win the prize for graphics. The staging was brilliant.

“And poignant as their university home town of Ternopil was targeted by (Russian) missiles this eve.”