Volunteers Hold Rave Clean-Up Party in Chernihiv Region

In Yahidne village, Chernihiv Region, the volunteer group Repair Together held a rave clean-up party at the House of Culture which was shelled by Russian occupiers, reported the volunteer organization on Instagram.

This was no ordinary party. Like all Repair Together events, the main purpose was to help clean up locations in Ukraine destroyed by Russian occupiers. Today, all cultural and entertainment events held in Ukraine aim to raise money for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteer battalions, or help people who are suffering due to Russia’s invasion. Musicians, poets, and artists are channeling their creative energies into supporting the war effort. 

Many young people came to the party in Yahidne to help clear the rubble resulting from Russian shelling. While cleaning up the territory, young people listened to rave tracks created by DJs. “The locals don’t mind; they get used to the music,” reported the journalist Maryna Varenikova on Facebook.

Volunteers are working throughout the village, removing damaged furniture from houses, or chopping firewood. “For us, the priority is to help people with what they need here and now. At first, we focused on 11 families,” Dmytro Kyrpa, a volunteer of the initiative, reported in an interview for the BBC.

“We came here and wanted to support people who survived the Russian occupation,” explained Tatyana Byrianova, a volunteer with Repair Together.

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“In Kyiv, the situation has been almost normal, but it was really awful here. People left their homes, their houses are damaged, a lot of houses are completely destroyed,” she added. 

Most of the 20-to-30-year-old volunteers at the rave clean-up were from Kyiv. However, some came from the western city of Lviv and some even from abroad, including from Portugal, the United States, and Germany.

“Techno parties, especially rave festivals, were our lifestyle before, so we miss it, and we want to get back to normal life, but our normal life now is volunteering,” explained the volunteer. 

The clean-up at the cultural center in Yahidne was Repair Together’s eighth event so far, and they have already helped repair 15 damaged homes in the village.

Repair Together has also taken 100 volunteers from Kyiv to help out in Lukashivka village, where, before winter sets in, the organization plans to rebuild at least 12 buildings destroyed by the occupiers and repair 25 that were damaged.