The well-known Christmas carol that conjures up Ukrainian defenders

Pokrovsk, in jap Ukraine, is the birthplace of one of many world’s most beloved Christmas carols.

However this 12 months, there are few indicators of Christmas within the metropolis. Only a dusting of snow on the abandoned streets and skeletal buildings – and the fixed sound of heavy bombing.

Pokrovsk is Russia’s subsequent goal. His troops are actually lower than three kilometers from the town heart.

And it isn’t simply buildings and houses which are destroyed. Ukraine accuses Russia of additionally making an attempt to erase its cultural identification – together with its associations with the well-known Christmas carol.

A lot of the inhabitants of Pokrovsk has already fled. The gasoline provide has been minimize off and plenty of houses are with out electrical energy and water. Those that stay, like Ihor, 59, solely depart their shelter to search out the naked requirements. He says it is like residing on a powder keg: you by no means know when or the place the subsequent shell will land.

Oksana, 43, says she is just too afraid to go away her home, however she goes out throughout a lull within the bombing to search out wooden and coal to maintain heat.

She tells me she hopes the Ukrainian armed forces can maintain the town, however she thinks it is unlikely. Pokrovsk, she says, will most likely fall.

Town has already ready for the worst. The statue of its well-known composer Mykola Leontovych has already been eliminated. The music college that bore his title is now closed and empty.

Leontovych is probably not well-known within the West. However the melody he composed is thought everywhere in the world – together with his chime-like voice. Leontovych is believed to have written the primary scores of the composition, based mostly on a Ukrainian people tune, whereas residing and dealing in Pokrovsk between 1904 and 1908.

In Ukraine it’s known as Shchedryk. In a lot of the world, it grew to become generally known as Carol of the Bells, after American composer Peter Wilhousky wrote the tune’s English lyrics. The usage of the tune within the Hollywood movie Residence Alone helped improve its recognition.

Viktoria Ametova calls it “a masterpiece – the signature tune of Pokrovsk”. She additionally taught music till just lately within the metropolis, within the college which bore Leontovitch’s title.

She has now moved to the relative security of Dnipro. That is the place many former residents of Pokrovsk nonetheless attempt to hold the recollections of their former residence alive.

Beneath a salvaged portrait of Leontovych, Viktoria watches 13-year-old Anna Hasych play the acquainted chords of the Christmas carol on a piano.

The Hasych household fled Pokrovsk this summer season. However they’re decided to not overlook the place they nonetheless name residence. Anna’s mom, Yulia, says she is completely happy to see her daughters working towards Shchedryk. “We is not going to overlook the historical past of our metropolis,” she stated.

For Anna, the melody brings again recollections. “Once I performed it at residence, it appeared completely happy. It jogged my memory of winter and Christmas,” she says. “Now it’s form of a tragic tune for me as a result of it jogs my memory of residence and I actually wish to return.”

However for a Ukrainian navy band, Shchedryk grew to become a tune to encourage resistance. They even play it within the trenches, utilizing the weapons as improvised devices.

They could be musicians, however their commander jogs my memory that they’re troopers at the start. All hung out on the entrance traces. Colonel Bohdan Zadorozhnyy, the group’s chief and conductor, says the tune helps enhance the troopers’ morale. “These beats and rhythms elevate the morale of the fellows on the entrance traces and encourage them to combat,” he says.

Roman, 22, makes use of a rocket launcher casing crammed with rice to shake it vigorously to the beat of the music. Shchedryk, he says, is “the delight of our nation, it is freedom, it is in our souls, I get goosebumps from this tune.”

In line with Colonel Zadorozhnyy, Shchedryk reveals that Ukraine is a civilized nation, now at warfare, combating for its identification.

Pokrovsk might properly fall into Russian palms. However its inhabitants do the whole lot they’ll to protect their tradition and identification.

The director of the Pokrovsk Historical past Museum, Angelina Rozhkova, has already collected and transferred to security most of its Most worthy possessions, together with gadgets from Leontovych’s life in Pokrovsk.

Russia, she stated, doesn’t simply wish to seize Ukrainian territory: “it needs to destroy our tradition and the whole lot that’s treasured to us.”

Angelina says the individuals of Pokrovsk perceive that they could by no means return, “however our coronary heart and soul don’t settle for it.” That is why they do the whole lot they’ll to protect the previous. The brand new motto is “protecting and saving is successful”.

It is arduous to say you are successful when your metropolis is destroyed. However its individuals, like Leontovych’s music, exhibit extraordinary resilience.

Leontovich’s life ended abruptly in 1921 when he was shot by a Soviet agent. Its composition has turn out to be a logo of Ukraine’s battle for independence. That is nonetheless the case.

Further reporting by Hanna Chornous and Anastasiia Levchenko