- By Vitaly Shevchenko & Thomas McIntosh
- BBC Watch
Reports claim that the Eurovision act in Liverpool, Ukraine’s home city, was hit by Russian missiles minutes before the band took to the stage.
Volodymyr Trush, head of the Ternopil regional state administration, confirmed that two people were injured.
Ternopil Mayor Serhiy Natal confirmed that warehouses were damaged.
Ten minutes before taking the stage at the Liverpool Arena, Tworchy posted on Instagram citing the attack on Ternopil in western Ukraine.
After the performance, Dvorchy wrote back on Instagram: “Ternopil is the name of our hometown, which was bombed by Russia when we sang on the Eurovision stage about our hearts of steel, incontinence and desire.
“This is a message to all the cities of Ukraine that are under shelling every day. Kharkiv, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Kiev, Zaporozhye, Uman, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and others.
“Europe, unite against evil for peace!”
They sang “Heart of Steel” – a song about the troops who led an ultimately unsuccessful resistance against Russian forces at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
Due to the ongoing conflict, Liverpool will host the match on behalf of Ukraine.
At the end of their performance, Dvorchy held their fists in the air as acts from other countries were also seen waving Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag.
The UK’s ambassador to the UK, Dame Melinda Simmons, described Tvorchi’s Eurovision performance as “intense”.
He added on Twitter: “Reminder that the reason Ukraine can’t host this event is because Russia continues to invade and the people of Ukraine continue to live in danger.”
Russia has yet to officially comment.
He then flew to Germany, arriving in Berlin just before 01:00 local time.