Kozak System Play a Concert in the Middle of a Field in the Kaniv Area, Supported by MHP and the MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation

A Ukrainian field served as the stage for Kozak System, with bales of straw for seating. Some 200 residents of the Kaniv area and MHP employees came to hear the band. Supported by MHP and the MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation, the concert combined music with a conversation about the war and Ukrainian identity.

Among the audience was veteran Denys Oliinyk from Kryvyi Rih, who came with his family. He spent seven years defending Ukraine, and after demobilisation in March, he began working at the processing complex of the Myronivka Poultry Farm.

“Their music is truly motivating and inspiring. I listened to these songs at the front, and they kept me going. Today, hearing them live, I was immediately taken back to those days and to my brothers-in-arms who are still serving,” said Denys.

Kozak System, MHP and the MHP-Hromadi Foundation have worked together since the start of the full-scale war, holding charity tours and raising funds for Ukraine’s defenders. One tour season alone delivered 20 drones to the army. MHP employees donate regularly to support the military, and the musicians personally deliver some of the equipment to the front line.

“At our concerts, we bring people together and show that we are all holding the line. Every performance is both support for the army and a reminder of who we are. Playing in a field reminded us that what matters most is to fight together and endure, because we have no other land. This is where we will live and build our future,” said frontman Ivan Lenyo.

In the first three years of the full-scale war, the band played more than 300 concerts, not only in major venues but also at railway stations, in shelters and in village libraries. With the Foundation’s support, the musicians also toured hospitals with the Lyudy-Tytany (Titan People) tour to lift the spirits of wounded defenders.

“Culture is the foundation of our identity and resilience. That is why we support Ukrainian artists and help their work reach both major cities and smaller communities. We believe real change is only possible through partnership. Together with Kozak System, we make sure that support from the home front reaches those on the front line,” said Volodymyr Zabela, Director of the MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation.

Last year alone, the MHP-Hromadi Foundation supported 14 cultural projects in communities. It also published a monograph on Hryhorii Skovoroda, the result of ten years’ work by 52 scholars from five countries. Its #unread_poems initiative restored the voices of the poets of the Executed Renaissance and reached more than 13 million people. This year, MHP and the Foundation have backed the publication of the Complete Works of Vasyl Stus and the project Ukraine. The World of Trypillia, which introduces Ukrainians and the world to a culture more than 7,000 years old. They have also supported a musical about Yevhen Chykalenko, an agricultural entrepreneur and patron whose contribution to Ukrainian culture was profound.