31/08/2026
On Friday, the air-raid siren sounded in the centre of Stockholm, and 250 people – including the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, foreign diplomats and politicians – gathered in a civil defence shelter.
But it was not because of an attack.
It was where we chose to mark 35 years of Ukraine’s restored independence – a place unusual to our foreign guests, but very familiar to every Ukrainian.
As Russia continues its war of aggression and attacks Ukraine every day, people across our country continue to work, create, perform, meet and celebrate – often in shelters, ready to take cover when the alarm sounds.
That is why bringing this experience to Stockholm mattered.
The event was opened with powerful speeches by Ambassador of Ukraine Svitlana Zalishchuk, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmer Stenergard, and Mikael Frisel, Head of the Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency.
And then, the alarm sounded.
For a moment, our guests experienced what Ukrainians know all too well: the interruption of everyday life by an air-raid alert and the need to seek shelter.
With visual footage projected onto the walls, for a couple of minutes our guests were transported to Kyiv’s metro, where people take cover during Russian attacks. We heard the sounds of explosions; we saw the walls shaking.
Yet even under attack, Ukraine continues to defend its freedom, preserve its culture and create. And this is what we wanted to show our distinguished guests.
We were honoured to welcome on stage the Ансамбль імені Василя Сліпака - Ensemble of the Cultural Forces of Ukraine named after Vasyl Slipak. All the singers are active-duty members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, three of them with direct combat experience. They travelled from Ukraine to perform in Stockholm.
Their performance was also our way of saying thank you to Sweden and to all our partners for standing with Ukraine.
The evening also featured the beautiful Ukrainian singer Sofia Baskakova, bringing the energy and creativity of contemporary Ukrainian culture to the heart of Stockholm.
We are deeply grateful to Vlad Troitsky, artistic director of the event, and the GogolFest/Dakh team for helping create an evening where culture, resilience and total defence came together.
A special thank you to our partner – Myndigheten för civilt försvar – for supporting this event and for helping strengthen the understanding of Ukraine’s experience of total defence. And to BANG Agency for all your organisational support – without you, this event would not have been possible!
And our deepest gratitude to all our sponsors. At a time when Ukraine continues to fight every day for its freedom, your support means far more than a contribution to an event.
Saab, BAE Systems Bofors and BAE Systems Hägglunds BAE Systems, Hill Ceramic, Sigma Technology Group, SEB, Soya GROUP, Väderstad AB, Ovzon AB and 4.5.0 – thank you for your contributions!
Our warmest thanks also go to Ukrainian chef Iryna Kucher and her wonderful team from Restaurant Eld at the Viking Museum, as well as Henrik Björkegren and the Cafeua team, led by Alík Molodek, for creating the evening’s Ukrainian-Nordic menu.
Ukraine’s independence is defended every day. And we do it together. 🇺🇦 🇸🇪