Ukrainian refugee sings "Oi u luzi chervona kalyna" (Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow) with Lithuanians in support for Ukraine

Ukrainian refugee Elizaveta sings together with 300 Lithuanians, who answered her call to gather in Vilnius and sing this viral Ukrainian folk song to draw attention to the ongoing war and struggles of Ukrainian people.

Eliza is a 21 year old Ukrainian singer. She had to flee her home country when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and has been living and studying in Lithuania since 2015. When Russia started the war on February 24th, her family’s home was destroyed by Russian occupants for the second time in their life. Eliza’s mother and brother stayed in Ukraine to defend their homeland. Eliza is safe in Lithuania, sending the message for her family and for her country to stay strong.

Following the 2014 annexation by Russia of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula, and then the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, singing "nationalist anthems" such as Chervona Kalyna in Crimea is deemed to discredit the Russian army, and is punished by fines and imprisonment. In September 2022, Russian occupation authorities in Crimea jailed and fined members of a wedding party for "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces by playing the song.

The singers of the song in an online video were imprisoned and fined.