In Kiev, rock stars take up arms

Ln February 21, the musicians of the pop rock group Antytila, superstars in Ukraine, were preparing for the promotion of their eighth album, which was scheduled for release on February 25. But instead of going on tour, Taras Topolya, 34, singer, Dmytro Zholud, 35, guitarist, and Sergii Vusyk, 39, pianist, took up arms. “We went without transition from the music scene to the battlefield,” says Taras Topolya over the phone. His voice is strained, his delivery punctuated by sighs of fatigue, but his timbre is determined. Behind him, we hear the hubbub of conversations, a few cellphones ringing, but no alarm or explosion: “We are in a period of calm. »

Taras enlisted in a battalion of about a thousand men, half of whom had never…