Folk and rock anthems in response to the Russian invasion have created an air of nationalism and unity among Ukrainians. Besides the explicit protest in their lyrics, they recall other historical periods of conflict in the country. 

It is not unusual to perceive a relationship between the sacred and the profane in musical references. To understand the place of faith in this context, ReligionUnplugged.com has selected five songs that capture some of the spirit of the Ukrainian resistance.

1) “They strictly impose on us brotherhood, but Cain was not a brother to Abel”

The irrationality of war and violence comes through in “A Song About The New War,” about a break in the bond and trust between brothers. It references the Bible story of the first murder, when Cain killed his brother Abel. The lyrics are a battle cry: “It will be a sea of tears! And we will have to fight with our chest.”

State ensemble Lietuva teamed up with rock band Thundertale to compose the song in February, following a request from Ukrainian fighters in Kyiv. Influences came from the speeches of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski and a well-known anti-war song referenced by him, “Do the Russians want wars?”

Both Lietuva and Thundertale are groups that extol the nation. Lietuva is a state ensemble that works on many fronts of music and dance, bringing the tradition of Lithuanian folk music. Thundertale is one of the best-known metal bands in the heavy/power metal scene, often recalling history in its compositions and known by the slogan, “For the motherland.” 

2) “We will never be brothers”

The allusion to the family is also present in a poem by Ukrainian Anastasia Dmitruk, “We Will Never Be Brothers.” She wrote the poem in response to the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014, celebrating the Ukrainian revolution and rejecting the idea of a “Greater Russia.” The story became a music video from Klaipeda’s theater and choir production, circulating more strongly again this year and reaching 19 million views on YouTube. 

The video mixes reading and singing, recalling bombings of the Crimean occupation. Some people appear with a cross in their hands, and at one point, a lady appears amid the rubble with the image of a saint and a white flag in her hands. In this passage, the song says, “Here we have the fires of rebellion. You have a czar, but we have — democracy. We’ll never be brothers.”

Dmitruk also wrote “We Christened Our Children Together,” which calls for peace: “Much pain to us has been given — The funerals of our sons.” Her writings went viral and resonated not only in Ukraine but also in Russia.

3) “Sheep came to us from the East”

With 1 million views after its release in March this year, the Ukrainian patriotic song “Bayraktar” has become an anthem during the 2022 Russian invasion. It is dedicated to those responsible for the Bayraktar TB2 drone, which is made in Turkey, due to its successful deployment against Russian troops. The Bayraktar drone has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. The song was played on ТСН, a well-known news channel in the country. 

“Ukraine doesn’t do rah-rah-rah patriotism,” Adriana Helbig — chair of the music department at the University of Pittsburgh and an expert on Ukrainian culture — said in an interview with the Vigour Times. “They’re not flag wavers — they have a ‘Do what you want; leave me alone’ kind of attitude.” But “Putin has created his worst-case scenario. He’s unifying Ukraine.” 

4) “When the stormy winds blow ... they will glorify, throughout Ukraine”

Named “In the meadow, a red kalyna,” this Ukrainian folk song refers to the glorification of the country through its first regular military unit — the “Sich Riflemen Halych-Bukovyna,” the Ukrainian unit in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I.

The kalyna berry referenced in the song’s title is a national symbol, representing blood roots and connection to the motherland. 

Another version became popular when Ukrainian musician Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the lead singer of BoomBox, sang the song and posted it online as he joined the military to fight the Russian invasion. 

“And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey — hey, cheer up — and rejoice!”

5) “You think you are gods, but everyone dies”

Last but not least, another song recalled during the Russian invasion is that of the Ukrainian singer, Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova, better known by her stage name, Jamala. The song “1944” was released in 2014 and is about Joseph Stalin’s mass deportation of the Crimean Tatar population. 

Jamala’s great-grandmother, Nazylkhan, lost one of her daughters while being deported to Central Asia, which inspired the singer to write the song. Jamala also had memories of her great-grandmother telling the story with the folk song, “Ey, güzel Qirim,” which means “I could not spend my youth there because you took away my peace.”

One of the listeners of the song, Panni Kattak, recalled, “After the Russians invaded Ukraine this week, 1944 might be the greatest Eurovision winner ever. It was criticized by many in 2016 for being too political, but for the people of Ukraine, today must feel like 1944 all over again.”

Camila da Silva is an intern for Religion Unplugged from Brazil. She is the 2022 Arne Fjeldstad scholar at the John McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King’s College in New York. You can find her on Instagram @silva.jornalismo.