Ambassador Oksana Markarova opened the Smithsonian Folklife Festival” De Libertate: Songs of Freedom and Hope from Ukraine” with four Ukrainian groups that will come to the stage today  — Bozhychi, Katya Chilly, Mariya Kvitka, and Shchuka Ryba.

Ukrainian performers use folk, traditional, and contemporary styles to illustrate how music unites and inspires the Ukrainian people during this pivotal moment in their history.

Grateful  to the Smithsonian Institute and Ambassador at large Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the U.S. State Department, the Federal Repressed Cultures Preservation Fund, Uber and our colleagues at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv for supporting the concert and making sure that Ukrainian musicians will be able to join us today in Washington DC