- Written by Vitaly Shevchenko and Thomas Mackintosh
- BBC Monitoring
Tvorchi held up a banner displaying the name of their hometown while they were participating in the Eurovision Song Contest
Officials say the birthplace of the Eurovision project, Ukraine, was hit by Russian missiles moments before the band took to the stage in Liverpool.
The head of the Ternopil regional state administration, Volodymyr Teresh, confirmed that two people had been infected.
Ternopil Mayor Serhiy Nadal said warehouses were damaged.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has accused Russia of attacking the Kiev and Ternopil regions before and during Tvorchi’s Eurovision performance.
Ten minutes before he took to the stage at the Liverpool Arena, Tvorchy posted on Instagram citing reports that Ternopil in western Ukraine had been attacked.
They added after the performance: “Ternopil is the name of our town bombed by Russia while we sang on the Eurovision stage about our indomitable steel hearts and willpower.
“This is a message to all the cities of Ukraine that are being bombed every day. Kharkiv, Dnipro, Khmelnitsky, Kiev, Zaporizhia, Uman, Sumy, Poltava, Vennytsia, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and all other cities.
“Europe, unite against evil for peace!”
Tvorchy posted on Instagram saying that Russia is bombing their city of Ternopil
They performed “Heart of Steel” – a song about soldiers who led an ultimately unsuccessful resistance against Russian forces at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
Liverpool are hosting the competition on behalf of Ukraine due to the ongoing conflict.
At the end of the show, Tvorchy raised his fist in the air as acts from other countries were seen waving the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine.
image source, Getty Images
Tvorchi is composed of producer Andrii Hutsuliak and Nigerian-raised singer Jeffrey Kinney
The UK’s Ambassador to Ukraine Dame Melinda Symons described Tvorchy’s Eurovision performance as “touching”.
She wrote on Twitter, adding: “A reminder that the reason Ukraine cannot host this event is because Russia continues to invade and the people of Ukraine live in constant danger.”
Mayor Nadal wrote in a Facebook post in Ukrainian: “At this time our city was attacked by Russian missiles.
“Thank you that your speech has become a symbol not only of the country’s unity, but of the whole world.”
Russia has not yet issued any official comment.
Since then he has flown to Germany, arriving in Berlin just before 01:00 local time.
“Subtly charming student. Pop culture junkie. Creator. Amateur music specialist. Beer fanatic.”