Kateryna Taran is a Ukrainian singer, activist, and volunteer from Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia region, now based in Ivano-Frankivsk after displacement caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion. She founded the media community Pidpillia, helps organize the language advocacy initiative “Mova mae znachennia,” and has worked with military audiences through Cultural Desant. Taran has pursued music since childhood, performs original and live music projects, and connects artistic work with civic activism and Ukrainian-language cultural advocacy across wartime Ukraine today.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Kateryna Taran about how Russia’s war on Ukraine has reshaped music, language, and cultural identity. Taran describes displacement from occupied Enerhodar, the revival of instruments such as the bandura, the symbolic importance of Chervona Ruta, and the move toward Ukrainian-language content after 2022. She also reflects on performing for soldiers, supporting morale through culture, and seeing music as both historical record and resistance during a national emergency.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How has the ongoing war in Ukraine influenced musical and artistic expression?
Kateryna Taran: First of all, I am from Enerhodar. My city is now occupied. I remember our war with the Russians. It started many years ago, in 2014. However, the biggest phase began in 2022. When Ukrainian people saw these bombs, rockets, and drones, they really started to remember who we are, that we are Ukrainian, that we have our language, our culture, and that we are totally different from the Russians. This war changed our entire lives. Of course, this war is reflected in music. Now, I cannot imagine a light song without this theme, without war.
So now they are releasing a lot of songs about the war. We are recording this, documenting it for history. Also, many musicians have joined the army. Even there, they are making some music about the war.
Jacobsen: What is the style, the character of the music of these artists who have taken part in the war?
Taran: It is like everywhere, we have many styles, like pop, rap, and so on. We put something about the war into every style. It is our message. Also, Ukrainians in other countries are discussing this theme through some songs. After 2022, we have much more rap. Before, we had more pop music, and yes, about the war, many, many songs.
Jacobsen: Do you find anything gendered in the way men express their music, or the way women express their music about the war?
Taran: Many people play the bandura and sopilka. I think you saw these instruments. We can do many things with the bandura, and many musicians leave the country to show people in other countries what we have and what the bandura means to us.
Because our parents and ancestors played it and preserved it for us, we can preserve it and popularize it. Many years ago, it was not central to our style. We modernized with the guitar, but now it is like a rebrand. Now with the bandura, you can play everything, and it makes it more modern.
The bandura is inextricably linked to the kobzars, wandering singers who performed dumas about the Cossacks, wars, and the fate of the people. Historical memory was transmitted through them when there were no textbooks or freedom of speech. In various periods, especially during the USSR, attempts were made to suppress the bandura, and the kobzars themselves were persecuted.
Therefore, today it is associated with the preservation of Ukrainianness, resistance to Russification, and cultural stability. The bandura is one of the most recognizable symbols of Ukraine, like embroidery and the trident. Therefore, it has now become relevant again and has been revived.
Jacobsen: What about traditional folk music and contemporary or modern music? How have those instruments changed?
Taran: We did not change the instruments; we changed some melodies, but it is still Ukrainian folk, still Ukrainian style. In our time, it is the same, but modernized. In the 20th century, the tradition began to be systematically preserved in conservatories and music academies, folk music ensembles, and state choirs and chapels.
This “translated” folklore into professional art. Especially now, folk music is preserved because it is a marker of Ukrainian identity, a way to distinguish oneself from other cultures, and a symbol of resilience and memory.
Ukrainian folk music survived because it was transmitted through people, entrenched in education, revived in modern music, and became part of identity.
There are many volunteer and cultural projects, including digitization of archives and songs, revival of folk traditions, festivals that promote heritage, and charitable projects to protect culture, for example, “Save Ukrainian Culture.”
The world now perceives Ukrainian culture as strong and modern. Artists have become part of the country’s moral stability, and music develops through a synthesis of tradition and modernity. This was the style of our grandfathers, and we wanted something new, and now we have modernized it all ourselves.
Jacobsen: What is the role of the Chervona Ruta Festival?
Taran: Yes, about Chervona Ruta, I really like this question. The Chervona Ruta festival gave a powerful start to modern Ukrainian music: it discovered new artists, popularized the Ukrainian language in songs, and formed a trend for national identity in pop and rock music.
Now the Chervona Ruta festival gives us the foundation of the modern scene: it shaped the fashion for Ukrainian music, discovered artists, and set the trend that singing in Ukrainian is the norm and prestige. It became a political and cultural symbol.
The festival took place on the eve of independence and became part of the national upsurge. In fact, it worked as a cultural protest and formed an identity. It launched festival culture. Modern events like Atlas Weekend and Fayne Misto are the next generation, but the model of the “great Ukrainian festival” began with “Chervona Ruta.”
Jacobsen: How are Ukrainian artists using their work to respond to the war?
Taran: Many artists, musicians, and bloggers are promoting only Ukrainian content. It is becoming more and more so, because before it was a mix of Russian and Ukrainian. They sang and listened to songs in both languages, and before the full-scale invasion, we did not realize it was harmful to our culture.
Now we are making much more of our content in Ukrainian. At the same time, those who do not know our history do not understand this pain. For many years, Russian imperial, Soviet, and now occupying authorities repressed Ukrainian people who sang Ukrainian songs or spoke Ukrainian.
And now, in the occupied territories, they do the same. I have my teacher, and now she is in occupied territory. She cannot leave, and they constantly pressure her about the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian books. It is terrible, so terrible.
Jacobsen: What do you feel about that?
Taran: It is painful every day. Even now, in the street, you can also hear the Russian language, because these people, I do not know why, do not understand why it is important for Ukrainian culture, for us, and for our nation. When I hear some Russian words, I feel great pain, because for me, and for many people, those are the same Russian words, the same drones, the same bombs, the same rockets. It is all the same.
So, about artists, our country has rejected the Russian influence that was imposed on us. Because of history… I will tell you something, maybe you have heard about the Cultural Forces? Cultural Forces is an Association of Military Personnel, which works to improve the morale and psychological state, cultural and educational level, and motivation of soldiers. Civilian artists like me join in supporting and popularizing culture in the combat zone and abroad.
There will be more information for you about our army and its culture. Because I am a volunteer, I have often gone to the front line, to Kherson, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, and many, many other cities where it was very dangerous. However, I was singing for our army, and these Cultural Forces are in the army too. Still, I am a civilian. They invited me, and we were talking, singing, and talking about culture and language. I think it is very important for soldiers’ mental health, and it is also relevant to your question.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Kateryna.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is a blogger on Vocal with over 170 posts on the platform. He is the Founder and Publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978–1–0692343; 978–1–0673505) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369–6885). He writes for International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN, 0018–7399; Online: ISSN, 2163–3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), Humanist Perspectives (ISSN: 1719–6337), A Further Inquiry (SubStack), Vocal, Medium, The Good Men Project, The New Enlightenment Project, The Washington Outsider, rabble.ca, and other media. His bibliography index can be found via the Jacobsen Bank at In-Sight Publishing,, comprising more than 10,000 articles, interviews, and republications across more than 200 outlets. He has served in national and international leadership roles within humanist and media organizations, held several academic fellowships, and currently serves on several boards. He is a member in good standing in numerous media organizations, including the Canadian Association of Journalists, PEN Canada (CRA: 88916 2541 RR0001), Reporters Without Borders (SIREN: 343 684 221/SIRET: 343 684 221 00041/EIN: 20–0708028), and others.
Image Credit: Kateryna Taran.