Beautiful Russian-Soviet Song Flash Mobs Unite Russians and Ukrainians Against Kiev Junta Hatred

Since 2014 Kiev junta banned Russian language during school classes. Now every teacher is mandated to speak only Ukrainian in class, and so are students. In 2014 and 2015 the historic symbolism uniting Russia and Ukraine was banned. Many historic monuments were destroyed throughout Ukraine as well. Ukro-nazi thugs from the ‘right sector’ Svoboda and various nazi battalions brutally beat up and even killed those who tried to resist. Among things banned in Ukraine have been the Victory Banner (symbol of the WWII Victory), names of cities and streets. They succeeded in renaming one of the largest cities in Ukraine from Dnepropetrovsk to Dnepr. They tried to rename Odessa to Kotsyubeevsk (if you can believe it), but met with staunch resistance from Odessans, which made them back off.

The newest thing the Kiev junta is doing is banning Russian language during school breaks. Teachers caught speaking Russian will be fired.

In the atmosphere of the oppression, the people are finding ways to resist in a beautiful and inspiring way, by performing Russian-Soviet songs at train stations.

It began on November 13 in Zaporozhye, the large industrial city in Eastern Ukraine, located next to Donbass. The city of Zaporozhye is located in the very center of the ancestral Zaporozhskie Cossack territories. Zaporozhye means basically ‘beyond the white waters.’ It is located on the banks of the river Dnepr and it is the white waters of the river that gave it its name. The city was founded by the Russian tsars; in 1930s it became the center of the Soviet industrialization. It is the sight of the famous symbol of the Soviet industrialization DneproGes (Dnepr Hydroelectric Station). It is also the home to the metallurgical giant Zaporozhstal’ (Zaporozhye Metal Plant). Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is also built here. I again want to stress that everything that has been built in Zaporozhye was built by either the Russian Empire or the USSR. During its 25 years of ‘independence’ Ukraine built nothing of significance. On the contrary, much was ruined and stolen. More here: Insane Asylum Overload: Ukraine Bans Communism – Goodbye Chinese Investments.

The first flash mob at the Zaporozhye Train Station sang the song from the hit Soviet film, The Spring on River Street, 1956. The Spring on River Street is a romantic comedy about a worker from Zaporozhstal’ and a young teacher, fresh out of college. The song is called, My Native Street. This song is sort of unofficial anthem of Zaporozhye.

I have to say that after I heard this flash mob several days ago I can’t stop humming this song, which I’ve always loved.

Flash mob at Zaporozhye Train Station, November 2016. Russian-Soviet song: My Native Street:

And this is the original from 1956, with the clip from the film The Spring on River Street. Улица родная – Весна на Заречной улице. You can find this film and this song featured on my RUSSIAN FILMS page. Incidentally, the film was made by the Odessa Movie Studio.

**SORRY IF ANY OF THE VIDEOS AREN’T SHOWING! THIS MEANS YOUTUBE REMOVED THEM FOR SOME REASON. I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THAT! ENJOY WHAT YOU CAN WHEN YOU CAN!

Kharkov, the 2nd largest city in Ukraine and the former capital, was next. At the Kharkov Train Station the flash mob performed another hit from the same era, The Old Maple, from film Devchata (Girls), a romantic comedy by Mosfilm (Moscow Film Studio).

This is the original with the clip from Devchata:

Odessa Train Station flash mob was the largest and it performed the hit Russian-Soviet song Smuglyanka (Darkie, the Moldavian Girl) from the famous 1973 film Only Old Men Go into Battle. I believe this masterpiece of a film was made at the Kiev Movie Studio. It was during Soviet times, of course, before Kiev sold out and destroyed everything previous generations stood for. It is action/drama about the multi-ethnic unit of the Soviet pilots during WWII, who loved to sing. This film is also featured on my RUSSIAN FILMS page.

The choice of a song was good for Odessa, a very international city, as well as it being a close neighbor to Moldova. It also was a gutsy choice, since Soviet symbolism, including Russian WWII symbols, is banned in Ukraine.

This is the original Smuglyanka by the Red Army Choir

In response, Russians organized their own flash mob in Moscow, at the Kiev Train Station. Yep, there is a train station in Moscow that is called ‘Kiev Train Station’ where trains from Kiev terminate. It was always there, and it doesn’t occur to anyone to rename that station, unlike the war on everything Russian in Ukraine. In reality the most popular train in Ukraine is Lvov-Kiev-Moscow, despite all the bans of the Kiev junta.

The song at the Kiev Train Station is called Rozpriagaite Hloptsi Koney (Boys, Unsaddle Your Horses). It is a Cossack song, sung in Ukrainian, or more precisely, southern Russian dialect. My mom loved that song.

In the end of the clip the lead of the group Yarilov Znoy (Ra’s Heat) says that they organized the flash mob to show that, despite all the hateful rhetoric, Russians and Ukrainians are one people, sharing one history.

Related articles:

• “Russian World” Flash Mob Continues: Dnepropetrovsk Joins in with Katyusha

• Ukraine Events Heating up and Accelerating
• Insane Asylum Overload: Ukraine Bans Communism – Goodbye Chinese Investments (there is more about Zaporozhye and Odessa here, incl. pics)
• Don’t miss! Raising Chi Against Hatred: The Suppressed Story of Russian Songs that Unite World Cultures
• More Russian/Soviet song links