The need to attract the attention of the world community to the situation at Azovstal was crucial, and the Ukrainian band KALUSH Orchestra was not at all worried about the risk of disqualification from the Eurovision Song Contest.
The leader of the band Oleh Psyuk said this at a press conference.
“People don't understand what kind of disaster my country is going through. And for me to say that was definitely more important than the disqualification. If I had missed that chance, I wouldn't have forgiven myself. I really hope that some people of the 200 million people who saw it will be able to help us,” the musician said.
Oleh Psyuk told about the difficult situation in Mariupol.
“Our people are besieged, about a thousand servicemen. They are cordoned off from all sides, and they can't get out of Azovstal. We need help. We are asking for some third country to intervene to free them. How to help? Informational. We have to tell everyone, write about it, knock on the authorities of your countries. There is a lot of press here, if each of you writes about it, it will definitely help us,” the leader of the KALUSH Orchestra said.
Oleh Psyuk thanked the Ukrainians, the entire diaspora, and all the countries that voted for Ukraine at Eurovision.
“This year is very important for Ukraine, and any victory is very important. You understand how much support Ukraine needs right now in all aspects... Ukraine needs good news,” he said.
The Ukrainian band KALUSH won the Eurovision Song Contest. In total, the Ukrainians received 631 votes. The spectator vote was the absolute record in the history of Eurovision and brought 439 points.
KALUSH with the song “Stefania” in the finals performed at number 12. The song, recorded entirely in Ukrainian, is dedicated to the mother of the frontman Oleh Psyuk.
After the performance, the band's leader Oleh Psyuk appealed to the world community: “Please help the Ukrainian city of Mariupol! Help Azovstal right now!”