Anders Adlercreutz, Finland’s minister for European affairs, released a video in which he plays a patrioitic Ukrainian song on the cello; he began playing the cello at age 11.
In Wednesday’s (7/12) New York Times, Javier C. Hernández writes, “Anders Adlercreutz, Finland’s minister for European affairs, has long been a critic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, denouncing President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for leading a ‘crazy war’ … On Sunday, Mr. Adlercreutz tried a different tactic: he posted a video of himself on social media playing a patriotic Ukrainian song on the cello to mark the conflict’s 500th day. The video also shows images of bombed buildings, juxtaposed with phrases like ‘unspeakable aggression,’ as well as hopeful symbols like sunflower fields and a dove in flight. ‘I wanted to provide comfort to Ukrainians here in Finland and in other countries,’ Mr. Adlercreutz said in an interview, ‘and to make clear that they are not ignored, and their culture, their music and their language is not forgotten.’ To his surprise, the video garnered more than a million views across a variety of platforms … Russian officials tried to portray the video as part of an effort by Western countries to sway public opinion … The video features the Ukrainian song ‘The Red Viburnum in the Meadow,’ written during World War I, which has long been associated with Ukraine’s fight for independence.”
