Music

Rosava (Росава; real name Olena Yanchuk, Олена Янчук) is a contemporary Ukrainian folk, electronica, and pop singer. She has been on the scene since 2001, with varying degrees of popularity, and has recently had something of a resurgence, appearing in the top ten of Ukraine’s hit parades. Rosava grew up near Kyiv in a musical family. Her father […]

Zlata Ognevich (Злата Огнєвіч; real name Inna Leonidivna Bordyug, Інна Леонідівна Бордюг) is a Ukrainian pop singer and political activist. She sings mainly in Ukrainian, though sometimes also in Russian and English. Ognevich was born in Murmansk, Russia, to Serbian and Italian parents, but they moved to Sudak, a city in Crimea, when she was […]

Lyuk (Люк; translates to “manhole” in Russian, but the members said they just liked how it sounded) was a Ukrainian rock and rock-adjacent band that broke up in 2011. They’re also affiliated with the genres of punk, acid jazz, lounge, funk, hip-hop, and a bunch of others—the band members themselves have had a hard time defining exactly […]

Potap and Nastya (Потап и Настя) are a Ukrainian pop/rock duo. They sing mainly in Russian, occasionally in English, and rarely in Ukrainian. Their linguistic preferences have brought them controversy in their native Ukraine, but they remain a highly popular contemporary group, and they affirm that they are fully Ukrainian, despite singing in Russian. The group consists […]

Tina Karol (Тіна Кароль) is a popular Ukrainian singer, one of the brightest lights in the Ukrainian music scene over the last 10 years. Her career started in 2005 and she’s still reaching the tops of Ukrainian hit parades today. She’s often considered a pop singer, but her soulful voice and the baroque instrumentation she uses puts […]

Taisiya Povaliy (Таїсія Повалій) is a classic Soviet and Ukrainian pop and shanson singer. Born in 1964 near Kyiv to a musical family, Povaliy attended music school in Kyiv and then worked at a music hall for a few yeas before starting a solo career. She won a number of Soviet music contests at the beginning of […]

Alyosha (Альоша; real name Olena Kucher, Олена Кучер) is a well-known contemporary Ukrainian pop singer and songwriter who has written hits for both herself and other artists. She is known both for her male name—“Alyosha” is usually a diminutive of “Aleksey”—and, of course, her singing. Her website introduces her thus: “In her character, as well […]

Lama (Лама; they usually use the Latin transliteration, though) is a Ukrainian pop-rock band founded in 2005. They sing exclusively in Ukrainian. The current members are singer Natalya Dzenkiv (Наталя Дзеньків), guitarist Andriy Alekseev (Андрій Алексеєв), bass guitarist Zurab Rogava (Зураб Рогава), synthesizer-ist Zheka Kobzaruk (Жека Кобзарук), and drummer Dmitro “ZI” Suprunyuk (Дмитро “ZI” Супрунюк). […]

Gaitana (Ґайтана; real name Ґайта-Лурдес Ессамі, or Gaita-Lurdes Essami, which means “strong and great” in the Lingala language) is a Ukrainian/Congolese jazz, funk, soul, and pop singer. Her biggest fame may have come from representing Ukraine at Eurovision in 2012, but she also has a slew of successful albums to her name and is one of Ukraine’s most […]