“I am a cellist and a citizen of Kharkiv. I love my heroic city which is now struggling to survive the war,” he wrote on Facebook, later adding: “I am launching my project in the streets of Kharkiv to raise funds for humanitarian aid and restoration of the city’s architecture. Let’s unite to revive our city together!”
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Karachevtsev, 30, was born in Kharkiv. He studied music in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and traveled the world touring with different orchestras, he said in a phone interview with The Washington Post. He said he decided to remain in Kharkiv despite the heavy shelling of the city since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 because he wanted to support his beleaguered hometown.
Karachevtsev said he chose Bach for his fundraising project because the 18th-century German composer’s music is known to be “spiritual.”
“It raises people’s spirits. It makes people like me more eager to stand their ground and to not give up. To keep fighting,” the cellist said through an interpreter.
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Since the war began, Karachevtsev has been working as a volunteer, helping people with evacuation and access to humanitarian aid. He spends the day volunteering and practicing the cello.
His friend and cameraman for the , Oleksandr Osipov, 37, told The Post on Wednesday that the atmosphere had changed in Kharkiv, which lies 25 miles from Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia. The city once leaned toward Russia, Osipov said, but “in an instant” became the most pro-Ukrainian city in the country.
“Ukrainians have shown themselves to be a strong and united nation; now the whole world knows about it,” Osipov said. “I am glad that people of art are not afraid and play a key role in these difficult times.”
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Osipov also is a native of Kharkiv and said he and many others had chosen not to flee but to remain in the city they love. The professional photographer said he had declined numerous offers to film the war and wanted to show only “beauty” to the outside world. He said he agreed to shoot the music because it raised awareness and “changed the image of our city.”
This is not the first musical moment for Kharkiv.
Last month, as Russian troops were closing in on the city and people were attempting to flee, a young boy sat at a glossy white piano in a hotel lobby and began to play.
A of him captured by a Post correspondent went viral online, attracting the attention of the world, especially composers Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan, who said they never imagined their music would become the evocative soundtrack to a war.
The piece the young boy played is titled “Walk to School” and was written in 2020. Leonard-Morgan, 48, who lives in Los Angeles, told The Post earlier this month that the boy’s playing “in the face of adversity” moved him to tears.
A young boy plays piano in the lobby of a Kharkiv hotel as Russian troops advance on the city. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post)
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Before the war, Kharkiv was known as Ukraine’s intellectual capital. With more than 30 universities, it brimmed with students and was a well-known scientific and cultural hub. But today, missile strikes have ravaged the 19th-century architectural gems in its center. Around half the population, about 700,000 people, have fled, according to the regional administration.
Karachevtsev said he couldn’t believe the invasion was happening until the very first day of the assault.
“We could not only hear the invasion, but we could see the invasion,” he said. “And on the horizon, we could see the flames from when the invasion started. We basically witnessed the very beginning of the whole story.”
Jennifer Hassan and Sudarsan Raghavan contributed to this report.
