Band Balaklava Blues raises 500,000 Canadian dollars for Ukraine

Balaklava Blues, a Ukrainian-Canadian folk-noir band, has raised 500,000 Canadian dollars for Ukraine at concerts and charity events.

The band's press service told this to Ukrinform.

"Balaklava Blues is now the most active Canadian band that supports Ukraine on a global scale. Over four-and-a-half months of war, they have raised more than 500,000 Canadian dollars from concerts and charity events," the press service said.

It added that for band members, Mark Marczyk and Marichka Marczyk, the war in Ukraine is part of their life because their brothers serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and some of their loved ones died near Kyiv. They helped some Ukrainians find temporary shelter in Canada.

The band gave dozens of charity concerts in Europe, Canada and America. Last week, Balaklava Blues had a charity performance on the main stage of one of Europe's biggest festivals, Colors of Ostrava, in the Czech Republic. Their performance gathered 60,000 spectators.

The press service also reported that Balaklava Blues created a video for the song "Swallow," dedicating this song to women who have forced to leave their homes with their children due to the Russian invasion.

Balaklava Blues is a band created by an ethnic Ukrainian from Toronto, Mark, and Marichka, a native of Kyiv. They met in 2014 on the Maidan in Kyiv. They started a family and became the authors of powerful musical and theater projects. They live in Canada.