This Ukrainian radio station is staying on air for the war effort from a makeshift studio in the mountains
Kraina FM CEO Bogdan Bolkhovetsky says station helps military, lifts people's spirits
A Kyiv radio station is broadcasting from a makeshift studio to bring Ukrainians the latest news about the war, and music to lift their spirits during the hours spent sitting in air raid shelters.
"In Kyiv, air raid alerts are eight to nine times a day, lasting from 30 minutes to three hours," said Bogdan Bolkhovetsky, CEO of Kraina FM, an independent Ukrainian music station.
"And while people sit in shelters, they sing … Ukrainian songs," he told The Current's Matt Galloway.
Playing a variety of Ukrainian on the airwaves "is good for people … it brings back some normality to life, I guess," he said.
Bolkhovetsky and his family fled Kyiv in the days after the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24. Members of his team also fled, and they regrouped in a small village in the Carpathian Mountains on Feb. 27. The village lies south of Lviv in the west of Ukraine, where many refugees have fled to escape Russia's advance from the east. Some find refuge in the west's smaller towns and villages, but others press on to cross into neighbouring Poland or Slovakia.
When they reported to the local military station to volunteer, soldiers asked if they had any fighting experience. Bolkhovetsky said no.
After explaining that he and his team produced Kraina FM, he said the soldiers urged them to "just go and keep doing the radio station."
Leaving Kyiv meant the station's normal broadcast was disrupted. Out of Kraina FM's usual 15 staff, Bolkhovetsky said only three of his team members came to this village. The rest fled to other parts of Ukraine, or crossed the border into Poland.
Bolkhovetsky and his team set up shop in a local accountant's office, despite only having one microphone between them. (It was incidentally left in one staff member's car when they left Kyiv).
Extra equipment was impossible to retrieve from Kyiv. But they managed to source laptops and a mixer from Austria, as part of Europe-wide efforts to send aid and supplies to Ukraine, Bolkhovetsky said.
They began to record segments in their makeshift studio, and arranged to transfer the files to a network of producers across the European Union who get it online and send the signal to broadcast towers. But the village's internet connection is weak, significantly slowing down their work.
I used to have a house. I used to have a cat. I used to have a car. It's destroyed.- Bogdan Bolkhovetsky
Despite these challenges, they're able to broadcast not just music, but news about the war, poetry and stories from their listeners, and announcements from the military. The broadcast is available online and to cities in range, across Ukraine.
Recently a local military base contacted Bolkhovetsky to say they needed a printer.
Within 30 minutes of announcing that on air, the military called back to say they'd already received three, dropped off by local residents, he said.
"[It shows] the power of people who listen to this and react."
Military are heroes, not us: Bolkhovetsky
As the weeks passed, Bolkhovetsky sent his family across the border to safety, but stayed behind to continue broadcasting.
"What we are doing right now is absolutely nothing compared to what [the] military is doing," he said.
"Military are heroes, all the rest are just assistance at best."
WATCH | Drone footage of destruction in Borodyanka, near Kyiv
People have jumped at chances to help, he said, despite having lost so much.
"I used to have a regular life, I don't have it anymore."
"I used to have a house. I used to have a cat. I used to have a car. It's destroyed."
In the face of that threat, he said all anyone can do is help, by doing what they know how to do.
"Bakers, they bake bread. People who can drive, they drive. People who do radio, they do radio," he said.
He only hopes the war will end in the foreseeable future.
"It has to be stopped. It just has to be stopped. So many people are dead — for what?"
Written by Padraig Moran. Produced by Alison Masemann.
