Oksana Bilozir: Ukrainians will return from abroad as they feel uncomfortable there.

In an interview with RBK-Ukraine, People's Artist of Ukraine Oksana Bilozir shared her thoughts on the criticism of the film "Yaremchuk: An Incomparable World of Beauty," the death of her first husband, Sofia Rotaru's stance, the scandal involving Olya Polyakova and Tonya Matviyenko, her weight loss, and plans to return to politics.

The singer has been performing on stage since 1977. A star whose hits "Hawthorn Night," "Festive," and "Parental Song" are sung by the whole country, she is unafraid to discuss her personal life and shares her genuine thoughts on topics that everyone is talking about. She is currently actively touring, giving charity concerts, and has already performed for our military in Suja, despite the dangers and risks involved.

RBK-Ukraine asked Bilozir if she is ready for new relationships, how she reacts to media scandals involving bloggers, and whether it was easy for her at the beginning of her career.

– How did you cope with the pressure of being a "Ukrainian-centered" artist in the USSR, where Russian-speaking culture dominated? You did not sing in Russian; was that a principled position?

– There was no particular protest; I did it out of love for "my own." I simply loved my own culture. I liked my language – I felt natural and organic with it. I come from a completely Ukrainian-speaking family. My mother was a singer, so I grew up in this culture. And I really wanted to, I just loved to sing in my language.

However, over time, after the start of my creative career, I realized that to achieve significant success—getting on the "big stage," earning a lot of money—I needed to adapt to the system of coordinates we were living in at that time. This was the ideology of socialist realism, where the "Soviet" person had to be exclusively Russian-speaking, as Russian-speaking culture was a sort of unified culture for the entire former Soviet Union.

I could have had a very good career... All opportunities were created, and all benefits were provided for that: radio, television, participation in concerts, prestigious venues for performances. For example, "Palace Ukraine," where many different concerts took place before 1991... We always participated, but usually it was somewhere at the beginning or in the middle of the concert, as a sort of inconspicuous link between some "cool" singers.

Even hotels— we could stay in Boryspil rather than in Kyiv hotels because Kyiv hotels hosted guests from all over the Soviet Union, and everyone needed accommodation. And "ours," meaning us, could be placed somewhere further away.

So I understood this right away, at the beginning. I was shown my place: if you are going to be an exclusively Ukrainian-speaking singer, you will have such "nibbles" of fame. But if you want to become a systemic artist (and I had a chance for that), you needed to adapt. I told myself "no," why do I need this? I want to work for my people, my culture. I would have enough space and finances to live comfortably.

Although I regretted that Ukrainian-language content was so poorly represented. I wanted to enhance it, to have it at a nationwide level. Years later, I realized that my mission, the mission of many of my colleagues, was perhaps not conscious then, but a mission to lay the foundation for an independent, national Ukraine, because our culture is incredibly rich.

And despite all attempts at complete, total destruction, we are here now; we manifest through culture, and culture manifests through us. This emerging culture gives us, the generations, the opportunity to survive. This mystical connection to culture, when I was just starting out, filled me.

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Bilozir explained why she has never sung in Russian (photo provided by the press service)

– What can you say about Sofia Rotaru? She sang in both Russian and Ukrainian, and many of her songs have become "Ukrainian folk songs." But now she is literally being demanded to state her position clearly, to call Putin an aggressor, and so on, although the artist supports Ukraine. What do you think about this?

– She became a star not when she sang Russian songs. She became a star when she sang Ukrainian songs. And that is her great merit today because she was the foundation, the support upon which one could rely. Therefore, interpreting her actions now is unnecessary.

First of all, she is already very respected and has the right to her position. We must give her respect for this and not demand anything else from her today because she has invested her position in her creativity and the development of Ukrainian culture as well.

– Let's talk about the film "Yaremchuk: An Incomparable World of Beauty." You mentioned that the film did not mention his first wife Elena and his sons. To which Yaremchuk's widow, Daria, responded: "I could also tell a lot, but I can never criticize anyone because Nazar and I have spent nights at Igor Bilozir's home in Lviv; it would be nice to see a film about Bilozir." Do you see this as a jab?

– Well, let’s start with who Daria is. She is the wife of Nazar Yaremchuk. I am an artist who has spent my entire conscious life with Nazar Yaremchuk. And for me, he is a historical figure of Ukraine; he does not belong solely to his family. Daria was his wife; for her, he was a husband, and I completely understand her. She did a great job. What they created is a very good project.

But for me, Nazar Yaremchuk is part of our culture, integral, not just something that belongs to his family. His figure should be shown from the first year, from his childhood. That’s how it should be, and that’s how it should be done. The film about Igor Bilozir is exactly that. Daria just hasn't seen it; it’s called "A Trace on Earth." He is well depicted in it, correctly.

This film is a chronicle-documentary, not a personal one from me or our son. The film was made from the perspective of the historical process in which Igor Bilozir lived and created. Because he created music not only for songs; he composed music for performances, for films, worked a lot in Hollywood, wrote a lot of background music...

I constantly sing Igor's songs; I always talk about him at every concert. His songs are sung by everyone who wants to; we published a collection of his works as a composer, a collection of his songs. So, from the perspective of my approach, my vision, intertwining Igor Bilozir's creativity into our cultural and informational life, we did everything we could.

I have absolutely nothing to hide. Daria never lived in my house. If she lived there when Igor had another wife, that’s a different question. But during my time, in my house, Daria and Nazar Yaremchuk never lived. In general, Nazar Yaremchuk did not "live at home"; he always stayed in super hotels, super luxury.

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Bilozir responded to Yaremchuk's widow (photo provided by the singer)

– Regarding Igor Bilozir—your first husband. He was brutally murdered in Lviv because, as reported, he "interfered with listening to Russian chanson." This case had a very wide and loud resonance; the murderers received sentences, not immediately, but they received 10 and 8 years. In your opinion, is that punishment enough?

– A person cannot be returned. How do they live with this now? Let me tell you a story. I was involved with the SBU in the search for and exchange of our prisoners from 2014 until mid-2016. And at one of those exchanges, a soldier approached me and said: "You know, I’ve been looking for you for a long time; I want to apologize to you. Because I am one of eight who studied under one teacher. "Special Forces." We were taught to kill, not to fight, but just to kill, to destroy."

And then he said: "One of us killed your husband. He broke the oath we took from our teacher, who taught us to kill immediately, but we had no right to use it in civilian life against civilians. One of us killed your husband. I have been looking for you for a year to apologize for him." So that’s the answer to how the murderer lives on. It seems to me that this is a greater punishment.

– Nowadays, there are often so-called media scandals when bloggers, especially million-followers bloggers, boast about their new cars, watches, and jewelry. What do you think about this? Is it appropriate to boast like this right now?