The Anti-DicKtators are a collaboration of likeminded musicians horrified at what’s going on in Ukraine at the moment, and wanting in their own small way to help contribute to raising awareness and money for a relief fund (details below).
They are producer Phil Meadley (The Gaslight Troubadours), vocalist/songwriter Yuriy Gurzhy (RotFront/Shtetl Superstars), fiddle player Jon Sevink (Levellers), bassist Tom Robinson (Tom Robinson Band/BBC Radio 6Music presenter), and vocalist Katya Tasheva (RotFront).
Yuriy is a Ukrainian who moved to Berlin at the age of 20. He’s a musician, DJ, producer and celebrated author who’s recently been keeping a war diary for German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. He explains that the song lyrics are based around the story of the small handful of Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island in the early days of the Russian invasion who responded to a Russian naval commander “Russian warship, go f**k yourself!” when they were told to surrender. It’s now become rallying cry for Ukrainians and the slogan has even been made into a Ukrainian postal service stamp to commemorate their bravery.
“We are shocked and hurt to see what’s been happening in Ukraine,” he says. “And how brutally Russia wipes out its cities, towns and villages. Ukrainians fight back like superheroes but even if this unjust, cruel war will be over soon, it’ll need every pound or dollar of what’s been donated so far. So we join those who’ve been raising money and ask you to donate for The Ukraine Trust Chain (who are bringing aid and evacuations to Ukrainians in the active war zone) by purchasing a song that in three minutes teaches you the main sentence in Russian that you need to know at the moment.”
