in connection with the 2013 anti—government protests in gezi park in istanbul. the 64—year—old has repeatedly denied the accusations. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. vladimir putin claims ukraine is a fake nation. he peddles a moscow—centric version of history, which draws on centuries of russian imperialism. his invasion of ukraine is about much more than military supremacy, it's about culture, language, identity and values, too. my guest is the ukrainian rock star, former mp and current lieutenant in the ukrainian armed forces, slava vakarchuk. what can this cultural icon contribute to the defence of the ukraine? slava vakarchuk, somewhere close to the front line in eastern ukraine, a warm welcome to hardtalk. hello, stephen. very happy to be here, thanks for having me here. it is a pleasure to have you on the show. let me ask you this — musician or soldier? how do you see yourself right now? how should we see you? first of all, you don't need to split, i'm certainly musician in my life, and i hope i will be a musician to the end of my life, because that's what i love. but then, everybody in ukraine, 4 million ukrainians are now soldiers in their own places, not everyone with weapons but everyone fighting for the country and that's what we need to do. so i think... it's what we are doing, what we love to do and what we need to do. i know you can't tell me exactly where you are right now but i happen to know you are close to the military front line. correct. what is life like for you right now, what are you doing day—to—day? it's very hard to describe because actually, it's very chaotic, you can never properly plan for a week or two to three days because the situation changes dramatically. but my biggest goal is to raise up morale and support those who need it mostly. first of all, these are our soldiers and troops near the front line but not only there, other places as well as places, like hospitals, and people who heal our soldiers, but civilians who suffer from injuries. given by russian weapons. these are volunteers, these are ordinary citizens, these are peaceful people, some representatives of local authorities and local governments, like mayors of small cities. for example, right today, i met the mayor of one very important city, a small city, it's near the front line in the kharkiv region. i saw him with a ak—74 machine gun and with some grenades and i asked him why he needs them and he says, "i'm very sure the russians won't come but in case they will i will never surrender and i will not give up, i will never surrender our lives". so that sometimes, even people like mayors, they are warriors. and that's what ukraine is now, it's a warrior country, a country of warriors. and you talk about raising morale, meeting so many different people in very difficult situations. how often do you feel it is appropriate to play music for people where you are? i know i've seen videos of you playing in metro stations, in communities which have been hit by russian rockets and missiles. when do you choose to sing? music is a very powerful weapon, and it is a weapon of emotions. and emotions, they control sometimes our rationale. and that's why i want to make sure that emotions, of our people you know... let's say righteous emotions, if i must say this. i sing them my songs and i say the words that i want them to hear, depending on the situation. sometimes for example, like today, i was singing songs for soldiers, dedicated to mariupol. sometimes we sing love songs because for example, nurses in our... ..nurses or doctors, who are especially doctors, women, they want to hear the songs they love to hear when they were in stadiums. so i play these songs. sometimes it's just folk songs because i want people to feel some common ground. and folk songs, you know, they unite everybody, not necessarily your fans. not everybody is a fan of our music but i think every ukrainian needs support, let's support trying to save them. i would say if you are not our fan but are fighting for the country, you are my comrade and you are my brother. but if somebody in russia now listens to my music and is still you know, committed to come and commit atrocities in my country, killing my people, he is my enemy. so i don't care. it's not about music and your attitude, somebody�*s attitude toward your music, it's how you feel, your country mates. i know from your videos in kharkiv yesterday, which is still being shelled, how do you cope with the security situation and have you told yourself that you're prepared to die for what you're doing right now? first of all, i need to admit that fear is a fundamental instinct, which i think most people in the world have and possess. and if you don't have fear then maybe something is wrong with your mind. but the problem comes when the fear controls you. you need to control the fear to be in a stable situation. that's what i'm trying to do. so i certainly understand that some places i am in are dangerous. for example, today in the morning, we heard we had two very, very serious hits by russian missiles, rockets. probably, i can say less than half a mile. probably a quarter mile from where i'll be. it was very serious. and suddenly it's dangerous, and suddenly you feel fear but you control it first of all because you are... because i believe that one who controls the feeling can also be in a safer situation, because the panic is the last thing you need to have in such a dangerous place. another thing as an example, if you come to see soldiers, to raise their morale, you can show them that you fear more than them, they do. somehow i cope with it. and yes, if you go somewhere to dangerous place you somehow prepare yourself that the worst can happen. but i also trust in god, and i believe that if you are doing righteous thing, and i believe that ukraine and me, sorry, might not be very modest but all of us are doing a righteous thing defending our country. so if you do this, i think somehow you are let's say, at least emotionally protected. slava, i want to ask you what this is doing to your creativity. we speak to you in a very unusual situation because you're still writing music, you still are a creative but you talk interestingly about how you've never before experienced the kind of emotions while writing that you do now. and you've been very open, you say, i'm feeling something new, i'm feeling hatred. and i know that you've written a poem, which begins, "where have you come from, my hatred?". is this something that you do not like, this hate, and i'm assuming you're talking about hate of the russian military who are striking your country right now? how is this affecting you? hatred is a toxic feeling, but also it's a sort of, you know, it focuses you on fighting. because the only thing for me is possible now to get rid of this hatred is to win the war. not only me, the majority of ukrainians feel the same. this is not hatred that is, let's say, typical for me. it's something applied. i never had a single... i never hated a single person in my life — i'm 46 — until the war started. yes, this hatred is somehow collective, it's not only my personal hate, but all ukrainians. and russian elite, if i may say, russian army, russian president, they alljust don't recognise our existence of ukrainian nation. and that is why they commit these atrocities. some people even call it genocide because there is no other rational why russian soldiers commit these atrocities and make this massacre, they did in other places where they just stayed for months. they kill civilians, they killed children, they raped young girls, they killed babies, they bury them almost alive. this is something you cannot even explain. i am interested in what you are thinking of russians right now. in particular, russians who have loved your music. before 2014, before the annexation of crimea, you would often play gigs in russia. you had a big fan base in russia. and i bet that there are some russians who try to reach out to you and who have tried to say, "you know what slava, "this does not represent me, i am sorry for what my "government is doing to your country right now. "government is doing to your country right now". are you prepared to listen to that or are you saying that you now feel a hate for all russian people? thank you, stephen, for this question. it's not an easy question. secondly, there are, first of all, there are friends of mine, let's say, people who i was befriended with and they left the country before the war started because they couldn't live under this putin regime. so they are in immigration for a long time and we are still our friends and we speak and these people very openly, very candidly they condemn everything that putin and his army is doing right now. but there is a very small percentage of them. there is another kind of people, these people who were 0k, doing 0k until february 2a and then suddenly they realised that they are in big trouble because they are living in a country which is doing things they don't support but they still feel fear to stand against it. for them it's to lose everything. so these people are now in a very difficult lose—lose situation. they stay there and they sell their soul to the devil. or they leave and their life is ruined as well. ijust wonder, because you know russia well, i'm wondering whether you have some sympathy for people who feel that they are stuck in russia right now, they don't have the option, maybe economically or other reasons to leave the country, they are living in a nation where the state run media is bombarding them with a particular version of what is happening in this war, which frankly is propaganda and it's very difficult to get an alternative view. do you not understand why some people would say, "this is putin's war, it's not russia's war"? iwould... i would accept this point of view if it was just out of the blue, all of a sudden but it's not. all of these people were silent when putin came to power, all of these people were silent when he started a war in chechnya which was absolutely let's say, unnecessary and bloody war which destroyed somebody lives without having any even political but most importantly human aspect. all wars are inhuman but there are some that can justify using military power for some righteous reasons, that was not the one. they accepted russian war against georgia and provocations and actually annexation as part of russian lands, sorry, georgian lands. all these people were silent and 0k living their lives in moscow when russia annexed crimea for in fact, even some political opposition members who are against putin, they didn't hide their, let's say, satisfaction with crimea when they came back home, which for ukrainians, is not the case. they somehow justified what putin did. and they said he poses but were an donbas. there are russian creators right now who are suffering because the world is now saying, you know what, we don't want to hear from russian ballet dancers, opera singers, musicians. is that always fair? just to quote the opera singer... i want to finish this, a very famous russian opera singer anna netrebko who was told that she could no longer perform at the new york met. she said this, "forcing artists or any public figure "to voice their political opinions in publix and to "denounce their homeland is simply not right." i wonder what your position on that is. i completely agree. you shouldn't force artist to show or express their political position. but is not political position to express sympathy and thorough and let say, how do you say in english? condolences. when people, innocent people, children and women are being killed. it's not political position to condemn those who do it because it's the right thing to do. all human being should do it. you cannot cover with somebody who commits an atrocity, nobody asked you to support this or that political leader and i completely agree with that. but we are not talking about politics. we are talking about positions which people choose and there, let's say, it's a humanistic or fundamental dimension. so i understand it. russians cannot overthrow putin and one—day. so... we don't have that much time, just to be clear, are you saying you think there should be a wide ranging, long—running cultural boycott to go with the economic sanctions, the isolation of russia? it should involve culture, or should it, in your view? look, i think that we cannot divide people intojobs or occupations, we should divide people with their values. those who support terrorist, those who support villains, those who support evil, though should be boycotted no matter what they do. right. those who support humanistic things, even if they have political views that me or you don't share should be left alone because that's their position. but we need to make difference between these two, it's very important. slava, how long can ukraine bear the terrible cost of this work was inaccurate or pretty unique position because you go across the first two front line performing and talking to troops in different places, you've seen the damage, the economic damage, you go across the first two front line performing and talking to troops in different places, using the damage, the economic damage, ucd social dislocation, you feel the trauma of your country. how long can ukraine bear this? we will fight till the terrorists end. i'm pretty sure that they end, victory is going to be there. the price of that is still to be determined. i understand it will be a hard price. i understand a lot of people already have been killed and maybe will be killed. we will have a lot of distruction. but unfortunately, that's the price we need to pay having such a crazy neighbour. it also the price we need to pay to become really independent for a long time from this moment. ukraine didn't start this war but we are ready to fight until we are sure that our children have a future. you say you are confident of victory, confident of a long—term independent ukraine but my question is, after this terrible war, what will that ukraine look like? we had president zelenskyjust a day or so ago saying the truth, is ukraine will definitely not what we wanted it to be at the beginning of this, it is now impossible. an absolutely liberal european style ukraine, it will not be. he implied that there will have to be a massive focus on security for the long term, that you will be mobilised society. he even said that you can make a comparison with the way israel is run with every young person serving in the military and a commitment to security. is that the ukraine that you believe is going to be your future? thank you for this question. it's not an easy question because i'm not an oracle, i cannot predict the whole future. i agree with president zelensky to the extent that, at first, after the victory, after the war is over, we will have some transition time, which is going to be tough, and maybe comparison with israel is relevant. because when you are at war with your neighbours, your security sometimes prevails over some other basic values. but because ukrainians have this gen of freedom in the blood and actually the existance of this gene of freedom in the blood is probably at the source of problem for ukraine because russians hate, can't stand this idea of gene of freedom and another slavic nation possesses. and they want to destroy it. so because we do have it, i think the gene of freedom will dictate the long term, long—run behaviour of ukrainian society. we last spoke to each other, you are actively considering a run for president, back before the 29th election. you decided not to run and a certain a lot more zelensky decided he would run. of course we know what happened after that. do you ever wish you'd taken a different decision that you had run for president? if so you would've been a wartime leader today. first of all, we all support our government and president zelensky. you know, his efforts in leading ukraine today. he needs the support of the whole world and ukraine need the support and we give it as much as we can. second, frankly speaking, i consider tojoin politics seriously but i never wanted to become president. that was part of the problem because many people wanted me but i wanted always to stay a musician because arts is what i am. freedom and arts are two things that are part of my dna. and yes, certainly i always make decisions and try not to regret after that. we have to end. but to go back to the very beginning, do you believe that your future is going to be more in music or in politics as you move forward? yes. music. i wish i could be a musician to the end of my life. because music and freedom is the two most important genes in my blood, in my dna, if i may say. and they make me as a person, i fell in love with music at 12 seriously when i first listened to a song let it be by the beatles. from that time music is part of my life and probably part of my family's probably the biggest part of my whole life was times like these like today ukraine faces, you need to put aside some things that you love and you do what your country needs. because i also want my country to become prosperous, democratic, independent and all meanings of this world of european nation and we are all ready to commit that and so am i. slava vakarchuk, close to the front line in eastern ukraine, we have to end there. we had a few technical difficulties, entirely understandably. thank you for your patience and thanks for being on hardtalk. thank you very much. hello. if it's rain you're after, you won't find any substantial amounts in this forecast. we were on monday teased by a few showers out there that only produced a few millimetres of rain here and there and they are not a sign of things to come. this weak weather front in scotland in northern england will squeeze out a little light and patchy rain on tuesday. but this is the main weather feature building in for the rest of the week and looks like for the rest of the month too. high pressure right across us, keeping things largely dry and settled, with a chance, though, it's on the cool side out there. a the touch of frost over the next few mornings. for tuesday mornings, across parts of southern scotland, northern and eastern england. many starting with sunshine but some thicker cloud across parts of scotland, running down into northern england, will produce a little light and patchy rain, not amounting to very much. the far northeast of scotland brightens up a touch. northern ireland, wales, the midlands, east anglia and southern england, a lot of early sunshine, some cloud building, the chance of an isolated shower — that's all it's going to be. these areas seeing some of the higher temperatures, warmest near 17 degrees, but feeling quite cold through eastern scotland and northeast england, especially with this onshore breeze. any showers that have developed along with the cloud will melt away overnight and into wednesday morning. we keep some cloud though across eastern—most parts here. the chance again of a touch of frost looks to be and northern england. then on wednesday, it does look as if that area of high pressure moves right in to be a mainly dry day. where you start with cloud in the east, it mayjust thin and break in places. where you start elsewhere was sunshine, some clouds going to build, but we'll continue to see some sunny spells, and there'll be a range of temperatures, from the cooler north sea coast, to something closer towards the mid—teens in the warmer spots elsewhere. by then on thursday morning, could be quite a bit of cloud through wales, in much of england, although there's a hint of something sunnier towards southern england and south wales, although breezier as well. just may lift the temperature a little bit higher than it's been. a few sunny spells still around in scotland and northern ireland. that area of high pressure stays with us into the weekend. there is a chance on saturday, perhaps seeing a little patch of rain towards northern ireland and scotland. not set in stone. it is the exception to the otherwise largely dry theme. bye— bye. this is bbc news. i'm ben boulos, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk, and around the world. the world's richest man, elon musk, buys twitter for $41; billion, putting free speech at the forefront of his plans, but there are fears over what shape this could take. no matter who owns or runs twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms. the un secretary general antonio guterres meets vladimir putin in moscow later, as ukraine asks him to initiate a humanitarian corridor for civilians trapped in a steel plant in the city of mariupol. in russia, there are two huge explosions at an oil depot, not far from the border, with ukraine — the russian foreign minister suggests the conflict could lead to a third world war.