The hometown of the Ukrainian act Tvorchi representing their country at Eurovision was bombed by Russia moments before they took the stage.
According to an Instagram post shared by the duo, the western city of Ukraine, Ternopil, was hit by missiles fired from Russia.
“Ternopil is the name of our hometown, which was bombed by Russia while we sang on the Eurovision stage about our steel hearts, indomitability and will,” read the message shared by Tvorchi.
Tvorchi continued, “Europe, unite against evil for the sake of peace! GLORY TO UKRAINE!”
According to BBC, the chief of the regional state administration Volodymyr Trush, confirmed there were two people injured in the attack.
The British ambassador to Ukraine shared a message on Twitter saying, “Meanwhile, this #Eurovision night Ukraine is under another Russian missile attack. Reminder that the reason why [Ukraine] could not host this event is because [Russia] continues to invade and the people of [Ukraine] live in continuing danger.
Following Tvorchi’s performance, Simmons congratulated the group saying, “Tvorchi def win the prize for graphics. The staging was brilliant. And poignant as their university home town of Ternopil was targeted by [Russian] missiles this eve.”
Watch Tvorchi’s performance at Eurovision 2023 in the video posted below.