Danylo Budko (MURR)
Severodonetsk
Dubno
How did you experience war in 2014? What do you remember from that? How old were you? How did 2014-2015 go for you?
Please tell this story in detail.
In 2014, it all started with news about the Maidan in Kyiv. At that time, in the city of Severodonetsk, we were just starting to develop night music culture. We showed young and experienced musicians in a new way and started playing new music ourselves. But everything changed when odd strangers appeared in the city with weapons and in military (but not always) uniforms. I vividly remember the first explosion at 04:20 on the outskirts of the city. My friend and I sat until late in the morning, drinking tea and discussing that something strange was about to begin.
Fortunately, in 2014, my city was not damaged; there were only two hits. But when the Ukrainian army was liberating Severodonetsk from this evil, my family and I left the territory of the city for a while, still, as soon as the Ukrainian military entered and hung up the flag again, we immediately returned!After "LPR" the city did not have electricity, water, and even more so the Internet , but with joint efforts everything was quickly repaired and put into operation. These few months have passed in a complete lack of understanding of what is happening, as a result of which a fear of the unknown appears, which is very damaging to the psyche. Especially when something like this happens in your home country. I miss Luhansk very much, it was a place of strength, there I once left a part of my heart which I still cannot get back!
"Where were you these 8 years?".
How has this time passed for you, what changed in your life since the events of 2014?
What has influenced you the most during this time?
Please write in detail.
Since 2015, I have been actively involved in social activities in my city. With a team, we held festivals of street culture and sports. After I saw how the war destroyed entire cities, I decided to run a digital gallery of ours, to store all photos and art in one place - on the Instagram page. The account has gained over 25,000 followers and over 500,000 monthly followers. But a few weeks before the full-scale invasion, strikes began to arrive en masse on almost all of the posts, and as a result, the account was blocked, and I perfectly understand from whose submission.
In 2018, we started holding night music events again, now together with the Plus/Minus team. In 2020, we built a unique base-recording studio called ROTOR.FM, there we gathered many creative people from all over the region, and started preparing for a large-scale and unique project. Before that, playing music was nothing more than a hobby, but in the studio I started to do it more professionally, and work with local young talented musicians.
At the end of 2021, together with the team, we won a grant - support from UNDP and started the implementation of a large social project called ZVUQ. It was meant to be a hub for people who do not have access to professional equipment for creative development, a place for creative people to gather. The most important event that happened during this time - on December 13, my beautiful daughter Milliana was born!
What was February 24, 2022 for you like?
Did you believe that a full-scale offensive would begin?Where are you now? What do you do?
What do you think about your future now?
Like every Ukrainian within the country, I met February 24 with fear for my family and not understanding what to do. We were at home for a little while and thought that everything was about to end soon. But in a few days, early in the morning, we had to go to the bomb shelter with the whole family because of the start of mass shelling of the city of Severodonetsk. We spent a little more than two weeks there. I even managed to write a track after running under shelling for the first time. After we had to leave the city, I didn’t see it anymore. Now only the ruins remain from it and those who looked in the eyes and lied, many acquaintances turned out to be accomplices and traitors in this war.
We couldn’t even imagine something like this happening in the 21st century. I remember how a few days before, during some visit, while talking with my parents and wife in the kitchen we said that this could not possibly come to be, since everyone has humanity. How wrong we were...
Now my wife and daughter and I are in western Ukraine, like most of the refugees running from the war . We are currently working on a new project together with Retreat Arthouse. A shelter-hub for creative people in picturesque places of Zakarpattia region, very soon we will tell you more details about this project. In the future, I also want to be involved in the development of musical culture in Ukraine and expand to Europe with my team, with whom I have already been through so much!