- Electronic duo Tvorchi represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday.
- Ten minutes before they were about to perform, their home city of Ternopil was bombed.
- The international song competition was supposed to be hosted by Ukraine this year.
The home city of Ukraine’s act in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest was bombed shortly before the artists took the stage late Saturday in Liverpool.
Tvorchi, a pop duo of Adrii Hutsuliak and Jimo Augustus Kehinde, posted on Instagram that their hometown of Ternopil in western Ukraine was hit by Russian missiles 10 minutes before their performance.
Local authorities confirmed warehouses in the city were damaged. BBC reported that Ternopil’s governor, Volodymyr Trush, confirmed two people were injured.
“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,” the duo wrote in an Instagram post.
The duo’s submission in this year’s international song competition was “Heart of Steel.” Hutsuliak told The New York Times that the song was inspired by Ukrainian soldiers who defended Mariupol, a city in southern Ukraine that Russia claimed to have seized last May.
This year’s Eurovision was supposed to be held in Ukraine after the country’s performer last year, Kalush Orchestra, won the contest with their song, “Stefania.” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and other foreign leaders, including then-British prime minister Boris Johnson, initially pushed to host the contest in the country despite the Russian invasion.
But the European Broadcasting Union, the competition’s organizer, later agreed with Ukrainian officials in July that the event would be held in Liverpool, Eurovision’s runner-up in 2022.
