Ukrainian native Nataliia Bondarenko reflects on anniversary of start of Russian-Ukraine war.

People around the world have been calling for peace since the start of the Ukraine-Russian war. Nataliia Bondarenko works for the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill and is a native of Ukraine who came to the United States as the war started. Bondarenko joined Jeff Hamlin to reflect on four years since the war started.On March 8 at 3:00 PM, at Moeser Auditorium (UNC–Chapel Hill), we present the Ukrainian Lullaby Concert, developed in collaboration with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.In North Carolina, Ukrainian women — most of them refugees — wrote lullabies for their children. They wrote about leaving home, fear, love, and new life in the middle of war.These are not just songs. They are personal stories — told in the most intimate form.The program brings these new works together with traditional Ukrainian lullabies and an international repertoire, including a Yiddish lullaby (“Rozhinkes mit Mandlen”), works connected to Beethoven, and “Summertime,” often linked to the Ukrainian lullaby “Oy Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon.” Performed by professional musicians, the concert is both artistically strong and deeply human.This is not just a concert. It is a way to listen — to women who carried their children to safety and continue to create, sing, and hold on to culture.